Cataract surgery waiting time at Royal Darwin Hospital
The median wait for cataract surgery — published by the source as "Cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion)" — at this public hospital in the Tiwi area of Northern Territory was 155 days in 2024–25.
Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released
These figures describe surgery that already happened, not your own wait.
- Median wait
- 155 days2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
- Surgeries completed
- 136 surgeries2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
- Waited more than 365 days
- 21.3%2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
Half the people who had this surgery here waited less than the median, and half waited longer. Of the 132 public hospitals that published a median wait for this surgery in 2024–25, this one sits at 76 when they are ordered from shortest median to longest. Hospitals with the same median share a rank.
The median wait here has fallen from 183 days in 2011–12 to 155 days in 2024–25 — down 15% — while the national median rose from 89 days to 106 days. The nearest public hospital with a shorter published wait is Katherine Hospital, about 276 km away, at 86 days. Here, 21.3% of people waited more than 365 days for this surgery; nationally it was 11.5%.
Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion)" and type your suburb to see the public hospitals within reach, ordered by their published wait. Nothing you type there is kept.
How this compares
| Where | Median wait | Waited more than 365 days | Surgeries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Darwin Hospital | 155 days | 21.3% | 136 surgeries |
| Northern Territory (all public hospitals) | 162 days | 20.4% | 921 surgeries |
| Western Australia (all public hospitals) | 82 days | 5.1% | 12672 surgeries |
| Australia (all public hospitals) | 106 days | 11.5% | 87841 surgeries |
Where the wait is shorter nearby
Distances are straight-line, measured between hospital locations, and are approximate. The search covered 1000 km — the radius was widened because fewer than four hospitals published a figure within 250 km.
Some of these hospitals are in another state — a public hospital referral can cross the border, so ask your GP what that would mean for you.
How the wait has changed
- Royal Darwin Hospital
- NT
- Australia
View these numbers as a table
| Reference period | Royal Darwin Hospital (days) | NT (days) | Australia (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | 183 | 168 | 89 |
| 2012–13 | 154 | 156 | 89 |
| 2013–14 | 100 | 116 | 79 |
| 2014–15 | 127 | 143 | 83 |
| 2015–16 | 180 | 158 | 93 |
| 2016–17 | 143 | 117 | 85 |
| 2017–18 | 110 | 71 | 87 |
| 2018–19 | 101 | 82 | 84 |
| 2019–20 | 159 | 96 | 98 |
| 2020–21 | 184 | 118 | 172 |
| 2021–22 | 328 | 200 | 158 |
| 2022–23 | 239 | 306 | 133 |
| 2023–24 | 182 | 217 | 119 |
| 2024–25 | 155 | 162 | 106 |
Public hospitals only — what these figures include and leave out.
All surgery at Royal Darwin Hospital · Cataract surgery across Australia · Cataract surgery in Northern Territory