In the past, the most urgent task was to encourage the creation of nomenclature commissions in the Länder. At present these exist in 6 provinces of the Federal Republic. In Lower Austria and Vienna the state archives perform the corresponding tasks, in Carinthia there is no such institution.
The most important current task of the LCO is to act as a coordinator between these institutions from a merit and organisational point of view. To this end, the AKO holds meetings twice a year at which the reports of the institutions represented are presented and discussed. Up to the end of 2000, 64 meetings had been held. The AKO has an informal organizational structure. It has one chairperson and, since the 42nd meeting, one deputy chairperson. These two functions are to be elected every five years.
The AKO regularly participates in the meetings of the Standing Committee on Geographical Names, which is based in Frankfurt am Main and coordinates the standardisation of names for German-speaking countries.
The Chairman of the AKO attends the meetings of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) through a delegation from the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the representative of Austria. The AKO is a member of the Dutch- and German-speaking division (DGSD) within the UNGEGN.