Female sterilisation waiting times in Australian public hospitals
The national median wait for female sterilisation in Australian public hospitals was 129 days in 2024–25 — from 5 days at Ballarat Health Services [Base Hospital] to 427 days at Gladstone Hospital.
Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released
Across Australia, the median wait for female sterilisation in public hospitals was 129 days in 2024–25, from 1388 surgeries. 11.5% of people waited more than 365 days. 53 public hospitals published a median wait for it.
Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Female sterilisation" 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 | 77 days | 3.7% | 187 surgeries |
| 2 | Western Australia | 96 days | 5.9% | 272 surgeries |
| 3 | Queensland | 151 days | 12.8% | 500 surgeries |
| 4 | New South Wales | 267 days | 18.9% | 350 surgeries |
| unranked | Australian Capital Territory | not published | not published | 15 surgeries |
| unranked | Northern Territory | not published | not published | 23 surgeries |
| unranked | South Australia | not published | not published | 41 surgeries |
How the wait has changed
- Australia
- VIC
- WA
- QLD
View these numbers as a table
| Reference period | Australia (days) | VIC (days) | WA (days) | QLD (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | 74 | 38 | 51 | 91 |
| 2017–18 | 76 | 40 | 55 | 130 |
| 2018–19 | 78 | 53 | 65 | 136 |
| 2019–20 | 88 | 92 | 78 | 104 |
| 2020–21 | 112 | 163 | 82 | 133 |
| 2021–22 | 112 | not published | 99 | 187 |
| 2022–23 | 102 | 154 | 77 | 131 |
| 2023–24 | 118 | 145 | 80 | 168 |
| 2024–25 | 129 | 77 | 96 | 151 |
Common questions
How long is the wait for female sterilisation in a public hospital?
The national median was 129 days in 2024–25 — half of people waited less than that, half waited longer. State medians ranged from 77 days in Victoria to 267 days in New South Wales.
Which public hospital has the shortest wait for female sterilisation?
Of the 53 public hospitals that published a median for 2024–25, Ballarat Health Services [Base Hospital] reported the shortest (5 days) and Gladstone Hospital the longest (427 days). A shorter median is not a recommendation — how to read these figures.
How many people waited more than a year?
11.5% of people who had female sterilisation in an Australian public hospital in 2024–25 waited more than 365 days.
Cite this page
The national median wait for female sterilisation in Australian public hospitals was 129 days in 2024–25, from 5 days at Ballarat Health Services [Base Hospital] to 427 days at Gladstone Hospital.
Copy-ready citation
Surgery Waits, "Female sterilisation waiting list by state, 2024–25", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/female-sterilisation/, accessed 28 May 2026.Attribution: Surgery Waits (https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/female-sterilisation/), 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/female-sterilisation.svg" width="720" height="284" alt="Median public hospital waiting time for Female sterilisation 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.