In the context of the Mental Health Act 2007 (NSW), psychosurgery is defined technically in terms of what the procedure involves, which is:
(a) the creation of 1 or more lesions, whether made on the same or separate occasions, in the brain of a person by any surgical technique or procedure, when it is done primarily for the purpose of altering the thoughts, emotions or behaviour of the person, or
(b) the use for such a purpose of electrodes within the brain to produce such a lesion or lesions, whether on the same or separate occasions, or
(c) the use on 1 or more occasions of electrodes within the brain primarily for the purpose of influencing or altering the thoughts, emotions or behaviour of a person by stimulation through the electrodes without the production of a lesion in the brain of the person but does not include a technique or procedure carried out for the treatment of a condition or an illness prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition.
