Where surgery waits rose and fell
The biggest state-level move from 2023–24 to 2024–25 was eardrum repair in South Australia: from 154 days to 316 days — up 162 days.
Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released
Both figures in every row are published medians — 2023–24 against 2024–25 — and a row only appears when the source published both years. The fourteen-year history behind each row is on the linked pages.
A long median is a measured fact about surgery that already happened, not a judgement of a hospital: case mix, size and demand all differ. No hospital here is called best or worst, and a suppressed figure is never treated as a number.
State medians that rose most
| Surgery | State | Was | Now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eardrum repair | South Australia | 154 days (2023–24) | 316 days (2024–25) | up 162 days |
| Tonsillectomy | Australian Capital Territory | 156 days (2023–24) | 302 days (2024–25) | up 146 days |
| Ganglion - excision of | New South Wales | 145 days (2023–24) | 250 days (2024–25) | up 105 days |
| Prolapse repair | South Australia | 127 days (2023–24) | 224 days (2024–25) | up 97 days |
| Turbinectomy | Western Australia | 146 days (2023–24) | 216 days (2024–25) | up 70 days |
| Breast reconstruction | New South Wales | 127 days (2023–24) | 194 days (2024–25) | up 67 days |
| Ptosis - repair of | Western Australia | 94 days (2023–24) | 151 days (2024–25) | up 57 days |
| Female sterilisation | New South Wales | 213 days (2023–24) | 267 days (2024–25) | up 54 days |
| Adenoidectomy | Tasmania | 137 days (2023–24) | 191 days (2024–25) | up 54 days |
| Congenital cardiac defect/s - procedure for | Victoria | 97 days (2023–24) | 151 days (2024–25) | up 54 days |
| Eardrum repair | Queensland | 161 days (2023–24) | 210 days (2024–25) | up 49 days |
| Prolapse repair | Queensland | 266 days (2023–24) | 313 days (2024–25) | up 47 days |
| Circumcision | South Australia | 56 days (2023–24) | 97 days (2024–25) | up 41 days |
| Septoplasty | Tasmania | 230 days (2023–24) | 271 days (2024–25) | up 41 days |
| Hydrocele - repair of | New South Wales | 130 days (2023–24) | 170 days (2024–25) | up 40 days |
State medians that fell most
| Surgery | State | Was | Now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blepharoplasty | Victoria | 356 days (2023–24) | 189 days (2024–25) | down 167 days |
| Breast reconstruction | Queensland | 312 days (2023–24) | 160 days (2024–25) | down 152 days |
| Bunion surgery | Queensland | 301 days (2023–24) | 168 days (2024–25) | down 133 days |
| Breast reduction | Victoria | 312 days (2023–24) | 182 days (2024–25) | down 130 days |
| Functional endoscopic sinus surgery | Victoria | 265 days (2023–24) | 140 days (2024–25) | down 125 days |
| Eardrum repair | Victoria | 314 days (2023–24) | 207 days (2024–25) | down 107 days |
| Septoplasty | Victoria | 377 days (2023–24) | 279 days (2024–25) | down 98 days |
| Turbinectomy | Victoria | 247 days (2023–24) | 157 days (2024–25) | down 90 days |
| Acromioplasty/arthroscopy shoulder/sub acromial decompression | New South Wales | 213 days (2023–24) | 127 days (2024–25) | down 86 days |
| Osteotomy | Victoria | 277 days (2023–24) | 206 days (2024–25) | down 71 days |
| Female sterilisation | Victoria | 145 days (2023–24) | 77 days (2024–25) | down 68 days |
| Fundoplication | Victoria | 139 days (2023–24) | 71 days (2024–25) | down 68 days |
| Varicose vein surgery | Victoria | 148 days (2023–24) | 80 days (2024–25) | down 68 days |
| Rhinoplasty | Victoria | 671 days (2023–24) | 606 days (2024–25) | down 65 days |
| Bunion surgery | Victoria | 159 days (2023–24) | 95 days (2024–25) | down 64 days |
Hospital waits that moved most
To keep small-number noise out, this table only includes hospital-and-surgery pairs with at least 50 surgeries in 2024–25. A hospital doing a handful of a procedure can swing hundreds of days without meaning much.
Rose most
| Hospital | Surgery | State | Was | Now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fremantle Hospital and Health Service | Pterygium - excision of | WA | 163 days (2023–24) | 433 days (2024–25) | up 270 days |
| Sunshine Hospital | Carpal tunnel surgery | VIC | 221 days (2023–24) | 482 days (2024–25) | up 261 days |
| Maitland Hospital | Carpal tunnel surgery | NSW | 87 days (2023–24) | 340 days (2024–25) | up 253 days |
| Bathurst Base Hospital | Carpal tunnel surgery | NSW | 81 days (2023–24) | 331 days (2024–25) | up 250 days |
| Blue Mountains Hospital | Laparoscopy | NSW | 84 days (2023–24) | 325 days (2024–25) | up 241 days |
| The Canberra Hospital | Tonsillectomy | ACT | 158 days (2023–24) | 392 days (2024–25) | up 234 days |
| The Queen Elizabeth Hospital | Cataract surgery | SA | 149 days (2023–24) | 383 days (2024–25) | up 234 days |
| Mount Druitt Hospital | Hernia repair | NSW | 94 days (2023–24) | 327 days (2024–25) | up 233 days |
| Bathurst Base Hospital | Hip replacement | NSW | 93 days (2023–24) | 322 days (2024–25) | up 229 days |
| Mater Adult Hospital | Tonsillectomy | QLD | 64 days (2023–24) | 293 days (2024–25) | up 229 days |
| Flinders Medical Centre | Adenoidectomy | SA | 112 days (2023–24) | 334 days (2024–25) | up 222 days |
| Mount Druitt Hospital | Inguinal hernia repair | NSW | 106 days (2023–24) | 314 days (2024–25) | up 208 days |
| Orange Health Service | Hernia repair | NSW | 95 days (2023–24) | 298 days (2024–25) | up 203 days |
| Campbelltown Hospital | Hysterectomy | NSW | 104 days (2023–24) | 305 days (2024–25) | up 201 days |
| Fremantle Hospital and Health Service | Tonsillectomy | WA | 193 days (2023–24) | 393 days (2024–25) | up 200 days |
Fell most
| Hospital | Surgery | State | Was | Now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frankston Public Surgical Centre | Varicose vein surgery | VIC | 747 days (2023–24) | 76 days (2024–25) | down 671 days |
| Monash Medical Centre [Clayton] | Varicose vein surgery | VIC | 512 days (2023–24) | 34 days (2024–25) | down 478 days |
| Austin Hospital [Heidelberg] | Functional endoscopic sinus surgery | VIC | 474 days (2023–24) | 49 days (2024–25) | down 425 days |
| St Vincent's On the Park | Septoplasty | VIC | 428 days (2023–24) | 66 days (2024–25) | down 362 days |
| St Vincent's Hospital [Melbourne] | Septoplasty | VIC | 605 days (2023–24) | 245 days (2024–25) | down 360 days |
| Albury Wodonga Health [Wodonga Campus] | Hip replacement | VIC | 595 days (2023–24) | 247 days (2024–25) | down 348 days |
| Royal Melbourne Hospital [City Campus] | Functional endoscopic sinus surgery | VIC | 495 days (2023–24) | 151 days (2024–25) | down 344 days |
| Box Hill Hospital | Functional endoscopic sinus surgery | VIC | 571 days (2023–24) | 241 days (2024–25) | down 330 days |
| Royal Melbourne Hospital [City Campus] | Osteotomy | VIC | 687 days (2023–24) | 402 days (2024–25) | down 285 days |
| North Canberra Hospital | Septoplasty | ACT | 585 days (2023–24) | 317 days (2024–25) | down 268 days |
| Casey Hospital | Eardrum repair | VIC | 396 days (2023–24) | 144 days (2024–25) | down 252 days |
| Lyell McEwin Hospital | Knee replacement | SA | 359 days (2023–24) | 114 days (2024–25) | down 245 days |
| Liverpool Hospital | Laminectomy | NSW | 326 days (2023–24) | 86 days (2024–25) | down 240 days |
| Flinders Medical Centre | Functional endoscopic sinus surgery | SA | 330 days (2023–24) | 116 days (2024–25) | down 214 days |
| Mackay Base Hospital | Hip replacement | QLD | 395 days (2023–24) | 184 days (2024–25) | down 211 days |
What is not here
Public hospitals only. Private hospitals do not report to this collection, so their waiting times cannot be compared here.
A one-year move is not a trend — every linked page carries the full history back to 2011–12.