Queensland Consolidated Acts

MENTAL HEALTH ACT 2016 - SECT 399

399 Requirements for personal search

(1) A person authorised under division 3 , 4 or 5 to carry out a personal search (the
"searcher" ) may do any 1 or more of the following in relation to the person being searched—

(a) remove and inspect an outer garment or footwear of the person;

(b) remove and inspect all things from the pockets of the person’s clothing;

(c) touch the clothing worn by the person to the extent necessary to detect things in the person’s possession;

(d) remove and inspect any detected thing.

(2) The searcher may exercise a power under subsection (1) (c) only if—

(a) to the extent reasonably practicable—

(i) the person has been given an opportunity to express, and has expressed, their preference about the gender of someone carrying out the search (the
"gender preferred" by the person); and

(ii) the gender of the searcher is the gender preferred by, or otherwise the same gender as, the person; and

(b) the search is carried out in a part of a building that ensures the person’s privacy.

(3) The searcher must—

(a) carry out the search in a way that respects the person’s dignity to the greatest possible extent; and

(b) cause as little inconvenience to the person as is practicable in the circumstances.