NSWIn ForceAct
Mental Health Act 2007
32Detention on order of Judge
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 32
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Mental Health Act 2007.
#### 32 Detention on order of Judge
32 Detention on order of Judge
(cf 1990 Act, ss 36, 37, 37A)
> > (1) This section applies to a person detained in a mental health facility under this Part who is required not to be detained or further detained in the facility and who was taken to the facility—
> >
> > > (a) by a police officer under this Division after being apprehended by a police officer because the officer believed the person to be committing or to have recently committed an offence, or
> >
> > > (b) on the order of a Judge of the Local Court under Division 3 of Part 2 of the [Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020](/view/html/inforce/current/act-2020-012).
>
> > (2) An authorised medical officer must release the person into the custody of any relevant person who is present at the mental health facility to ascertain the results of any examination or examinations of the person.
>
> > (3) If a relevant person is not so present when the authorised medical officer becomes aware that the person must not be detained or further detained, the authorised medical officer must, as soon as practicable, notify a police officer at the appropriate police station that the person will not be further detained.
>
> > (4) The authorised medical officer may take any of the following actions in relation to a person (other than a person referred to in subsection (5)), after considering any matter communicated by a police officer as to the intended apprehension of the person by a police officer—
> >
> > > (a) detain the person for a period not exceeding 2 hours pending the person’s apprehension by a police officer,
> >
> > > (b) admit the person in accordance with this Act as a voluntary patient,
> >
> > > (c) discharge the person, in so far as it may be possible to do so, into the care of a designated carer or the principal care provider of the person,
> >
> > > (d) discharge the person.
>
> > (5) If the person is a person ordered to be brought back before a court under section 19(b) of the [Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020](/view/html/inforce/current/act-2020-012)—
> >
> > > (a) it is the duty of the police officer notified by the authorised medical officer to ensure that a police officer attends the mental health facility and apprehends the person as soon as practicable after notification, and
> >
> > > (b) the authorised medical officer must detain the person pending the person’s apprehension by a police officer.
>
> > (6) A police officer may apprehend a person under this section without a warrant.
>
> > (7) In subsections (2) and (3)—
> >
> > relevant person means—
> >
> > > (a) if the detained person was taken to the mental health facility on an order under Division 3 of Part 2 of the [Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020](/view/html/inforce/current/act-2020-012), any person (including a police officer) charged by the order with taking the person from the facility, or
> >
> > > (b) in any other case, a police officer.
>
> **s 32:** Am 2008 No 79, Sch 2 \[6\]; 2009 No 56, Sch 1.25 \[1\] \[2\]; 2014 No 85, Sch 1 \[18\] \[19\]; 2017 No 44, Sch 1.19; 2020 No 12, Sch 3.17\[5\] \[6\]; 2025 No 61, Schs 2.63\[1\] \[4\], 3.10\[1\]–\[3\].