The party was founded and its charter registered and deposited at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, as required by Austrian law, on March 11, 2002.

The debate about the party-programme began in earnest after the controversial 2002 parliamentary elections, which brought to power a centre-right government.

[2] The Social Liberals see an affinity with the Danish Det Radikale Venstre and the Dutch Democrats 66 (D66).

[3] In 2004, the party was led by the lawyer Edith Gagern, Brigitte Mahel and Stephan Neuhäuser.

The Social Liberals have various aims: they see themselves in the tradition of humanism, promoting a life free of ideology or doctrine.