Breast reconstruction waiting times in Australian public hospitals
The national median wait for breast reconstruction in Australian public hospitals was 146 days in 2024–25 — from 8 days at St Vincent's Hospital [Melbourne] to 558 days at Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released
Across Australia, the median wait for breast reconstruction in public hospitals was 146 days in 2024–25, from 1192 surgeries. 25.7% of people waited more than 365 days. 34 public hospitals published a median wait for it.
Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Breast reconstruction" and type your suburb to see the public hospitals within reach, ordered by their published wait. Nothing you type there is kept.
State by state
| Rank | State or territory | Median wait | Waited more than 365 days | Surgeries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victoria | 84 days | 26.8% | 564 surgeries |
| 2 | Queensland | 160 days | 26.4% | 110 surgeries |
| 3 | Western Australia | 187 days | 39.7% | 116 surgeries |
| 4 | New South Wales | 194 days | 16.5% | 272 surgeries |
| 5 | South Australia | 223 days | 28.5% | 123 surgeries |
| unranked | Northern Territory | not published | not published | 7 surgeries |
How the wait has changed
- Australia
- VIC
- QLD
- WA
View these numbers as a table
| Reference period | Australia (days) | VIC (days) | QLD (days) | WA (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | 96 | 110 | 102 | not published |
| 2017–18 | 118 | 141 | 123 | not published |
| 2018–19 | 111 | 117 | 102 | 146 |
| 2019–20 | 137 | 158 | 156 | 120 |
| 2020–21 | 113 | 83 | 223 | 87 |
| 2021–22 | 103 | 27 | not published | not published |
| 2022–23 | 154 | 110 | not published | not published |
| 2023–24 | 149 | 122 | 312 | not published |
| 2024–25 | 146 | 84 | 160 | 187 |
Common questions
How long is the wait for breast reconstruction in a public hospital?
The national median was 146 days in 2024–25 — half of people waited less than that, half waited longer. State medians ranged from 84 days in Victoria to 223 days in South Australia.
Which public hospital has the shortest wait for breast reconstruction?
Of the 34 public hospitals that published a median for 2024–25, St Vincent's Hospital [Melbourne] reported the shortest (8 days) and Royal Adelaide Hospital the longest (558 days). A shorter median is not a recommendation — how to read these figures.
How many people waited more than a year?
25.7% of people who had breast reconstruction in an Australian public hospital in 2024–25 waited more than 365 days.
Cite this page
The national median wait for breast reconstruction in Australian public hospitals was 146 days in 2024–25, from 8 days at St Vincent's Hospital [Melbourne] to 558 days at Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Copy-ready citation
Surgery Waits, "Breast reconstruction waiting list by state, 2024–25", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/breast-reconstruction/, accessed 28 May 2026.Attribution: Surgery Waits (https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/breast-reconstruction/), from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare MyHospitals data, CC BY 3.0 AU. Reference period 2024–25, released 28 May 2026.
Embed the chart
The state comparison is also published as a standalone image at a stable address — the SVG chart — free to embed or link with the attribution below:
<img src="https://surgerywaits.au/charts/breast-reconstruction.svg" width="720" height="318" alt="Median public hospital waiting time for Breast reconstruction by state and territory, 2024–25">What is not here
Public hospitals only. Private hospitals do not report to this collection, so their waiting times cannot be compared here.
The source calls this collection "elective surgery". This site calls it planned surgery, because the surgery is planned in advance rather than optional — the methodology explains the wording.