Queensland Consolidated Acts

PUBLIC HEALTH ACT 2005 - SECT 157B

157B Ambulance officer or police officer may detain and transport person

(1) This section applies if an ambulance officer or police officer believes—

(a) a person’s behaviour, including, for example, the way in which the person is communicating, indicates the person is at immediate risk of serious harm; and

Example—

a person is threatening to commit suicide

(b) the risk appears to be the result of a major disturbance in the person’s mental capacity, whether caused by illness, disability, injury, intoxication or another reason; and

(c) the person appears to require urgent examination, or treatment and care, for the disturbance.

(2) For the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 , section 609 (1) (a) (i) , the police officer may consider advice received from a health practitioner about the person in forming a view as to whether there is an imminent risk of injury to a person.

(3) The ambulance officer or police officer may detain the person and transport the person to a treatment or care place.

(4) If the treatment or care place is a public sector health service facility that is not an inpatient hospital, the person may only be transported to the facility with the approval of the person in charge of the facility.

(5) If the person is detained and transported to a treatment or care place, other than a public sector health service facility, the person can not be detained at the place unless an Act otherwise requires.

Note—

See section 157E for detention in a treatment or care place that is a public sector health service facility.

(6) In this section—

"inpatient hospital" means a hospital where a person may be discharged on a day other than the day on which the person was admitted to the hospital.