Queensland Consolidated Acts Queensland Consolidated Acts(1) Mental illness is a condition characterised by a clinically significant disturbance of thought, mood, perception or memory.
(2) However, a person must not be considered to have a mental illness merely because of any 1 or more of the following—
(a) the person holds or refuses to hold a particular religious, cultural, philosophical or political belief or opinion;
(b) the person is a member of a particular racial group;
(c) the person has a particular economic or social status;
(d) the person has a particular sexual preference or sexual orientation;
(e) the person engages in sexual promiscuity;
(f) the person engages in immoral or indecent conduct;
(g) the person takes drugs or alcohol;
(h) the person has an intellectual disability;
(i) the person engages in antisocial behaviour or illegal behaviour;
(j) the person is or has been involved in family conflict;
(k) the person has previously been treated for mental illness or been subject to involuntary assessment or treatment.
(3) Subsection (2) does not prevent a person mentioned in the subsection having a mental illness.
Examples for subsection (3)—
1 A person may have a mental illness caused by taking drugs or alcohol.
2 A person may have a mental illness as well as an intellectual disability.
(4) On an assessment, a decision that a person has a mental illness must be made in accordance with internationally accepted medical standards.
Editor's note—
See United Nations Principles for the protection of persons with mental illness and for the improvement of mental health care, principle 4, paragraph 1.