Cervical discectomy and fusion waiting times in Australian public hospitals
The national median wait for cervical discectomy and fusion in Australian public hospitals was 94 days in 2024–25 — from 14 days at Royal Darwin Hospital to 330 days at Concord Repatriation Hospital.
Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released
Across Australia, the median wait for cervical discectomy and fusion in public hospitals was 94 days in 2024–25, from 1076 surgeries. 12.9% of people waited more than 365 days. 23 public hospitals published a median wait for it.
Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Cervical discectomy and fusion" 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 | 40 days | 3.8% | 240 surgeries |
| 2 | Western Australia | 109 days | 6.7% | 149 surgeries |
| 3 | New South Wales | 153 days | 19.2% | 609 surgeries |
| unranked | Northern Territory | not published | not published | 11 surgeries |
| unranked | South Australia | not published | not published | 67 surgeries |
How the wait has changed
- Australia
- VIC
- WA
- NSW
View these numbers as a table
| Reference period | Australia (days) | VIC (days) | WA (days) | NSW (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | 66 | not published | 23 | 114 |
| 2017–18 | 67 | 42 | 46 | 95 |
| 2018–19 | 76 | 49 | not published | 140 |
| 2019–20 | 80 | 52 | 79 | 133 |
| 2020–21 | 90 | 39 | 78 | 172 |
| 2021–22 | 83 | 21 | not published | 151 |
| 2022–23 | 139 | 28 | not published | 231 |
| 2023–24 | 111 | 63 | 113 | 162 |
| 2024–25 | 94 | 40 | 109 | 153 |
Common questions
How long is the wait for cervical discectomy and fusion in a public hospital?
The national median was 94 days in 2024–25 — half of people waited less than that, half waited longer. State medians ranged from 40 days in Victoria to 153 days in New South Wales.
Which public hospital has the shortest wait for cervical discectomy and fusion?
Of the 23 public hospitals that published a median for 2024–25, Royal Darwin Hospital reported the shortest (14 days) and Concord Repatriation Hospital the longest (330 days). A shorter median is not a recommendation — how to read these figures.
How many people waited more than a year?
12.9% of people who had cervical discectomy and fusion in an Australian public hospital in 2024–25 waited more than 365 days.
Cite this page
The national median wait for cervical discectomy and fusion in Australian public hospitals was 94 days in 2024–25, from 14 days at Royal Darwin Hospital to 330 days at Concord Repatriation Hospital.
Copy-ready citation
Surgery Waits, "Cervical discectomy and fusion waiting list", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/cervical-discectomy-and-fusion/, accessed 28 May 2026.Attribution: Surgery Waits (https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/cervical-discectomy-and-fusion/), 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/cervical-discectomy-and-fusion.svg" width="720" height="250" alt="Median public hospital waiting time for Cervical discectomy and fusion 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.