New South Wales Consolidated Acts

MENTAL HEALTH AND COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT FORENSIC PROVISIONS ACT 2020 - SECT 4

4 Mental health impairment

(1) For the purposes of this Act, a
"person has a mental health impairment" if--

(a) the person has a temporary or ongoing disturbance of thought, mood, volition, perception or memory, and

(b) the disturbance would be regarded as significant for clinical diagnostic purposes, and

(c) the disturbance impairs the emotional wellbeing, judgment or behaviour of the person.

(2) A mental health impairment may arise from any of the following disorders but may also arise for other reasons--

(a) an anxiety disorder,

(b) an affective disorder, including clinical depression and bipolar disorder,

(c) a psychotic disorder,

(d) a substance induced mental disorder that is not temporary.

(3) A person does not have a mental health impairment for the purposes of this Act if the person's impairment is caused solely by--

(a) the temporary effect of ingesting a substance, or

(b) a substance use disorder.