Surgery Waits

The longest published surgery waits in Australia

The longest published median wait in 2024–25 was 1236 days, for rhinoplasty at Box Hill Hospital in Victoria.

Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released 28 May 2026.

Every figure below is a median a public hospital published for 2024–25: half of the people who had that surgery there waited even longer. The companion pages show the shortest and longest wait for each surgery, where crossing a state border cuts the wait most and where waits rose and fell year on year.

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.

The 50 longest published waits

The 50 longest published median waits across every surgery type and public hospital, 2024–25. Closed hospitals and suppressed figures are excluded. Every figure was released on 2026-05-28.
Rank Hospital Surgery State Median wait Surgeries
1 Box Hill Hospital Rhinoplasty VIC 1236 days 13 surgeries
2 Sunshine Hospital Dupuytren's contracture surgery VIC 1231 days 30 surgeries
3 Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital [Heidelberg West] Rhinoplasty VIC 951 days 19 surgeries
4 Box Hill Hospital Deviated septum surgery VIC 910 days 75 surgeries
5 Dandenong Hospital Breast reduction VIC 849 days 10 surgeries
6 Albury Wodonga Health [Wodonga Campus] Deviated septum surgery VIC 814 days 61 surgeries
7 Royal Perth Hospital Wellington Street Campus Rhinoplasty WA 794 days 28 surgeries
8 Western Hospital [Footscray] Eardrum repair VIC 787 days 11 surgeries
9 Royal Children's Hospital [Parkville] Droopy eyelid repair VIC 779 days 27 surgeries
10 Royal Darwin Hospital Eardrum repair NT 767 days 30 surgeries
11 Lismore Base Hospital Eardrum repair NSW 736 days 10 surgeries
12 Albury Wodonga Health [Wodonga Campus] Turbinate surgery (inside the nose) VIC 729 days 26 surgeries
13 The Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital Rhinoplasty VIC 723 days 10 surgeries
14 Albury Wodonga Health [Wodonga Campus] Varicose vein surgery VIC 714 days 18 surgeries
15 Blackburn Public Surgical Centre Deviated septum surgery VIC 690 days 94 surgeries
16 Albury Wodonga Health [Wodonga Campus] Knee replacement VIC 667 days 103 surgeries
17 The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Breast reduction SA 659 days 45 surgeries
18 Rockingham General Hospital Prolapse repair WA 631 days 17 surgeries
19 Royal Adelaide Hospital Breast reduction SA 588 days 22 surgeries
20 Fiona Stanley Hospital Adenoid removal WA 585 days 17 surgeries
21 Rockhampton Hospital Knee replacement QLD 562 days 41 surgeries
22 Monash Medical Centre [Moorabbin] Cleft lip and palate repair VIC 560 days 19 surgeries
23 Royal Adelaide Hospital Breast reconstruction SA 558 days 17 surgeries
24 Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital [Heidelberg West] Deviated septum surgery VIC 557 days 262 surgeries
25 Flinders Medical Centre Breast reduction SA 553 days 25 surgeries
26 Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital [Heidelberg West] Stapedectomy VIC 553 days 13 surgeries
27 Monash Medical Centre [Moorabbin] Breast reconstruction VIC 553 days 20 surgeries
28 Latrobe Regional Hospital [Traralgon] Rhinoplasty VIC 551 days 12 surgeries
29 Modbury Hospital Rhinoplasty SA 543 days 18 surgeries
30 Northeast Health Wangaratta Deviated septum surgery VIC 543 days 24 surgeries
31 Fiona Stanley Hospital Breast reconstruction WA 541 days 42 surgeries
32 Austin Hospital [Heidelberg] Deviated septum surgery VIC 534 days 78 surgeries
33 Port Pirie Regional Health Service Deviated septum surgery SA 513 days 17 surgeries
34 Port Pirie Regional Health Service Keyhole sinus surgery SA 510 days 18 surgeries
35 Fremantle Hospital and Health Service Sub-mucosal resection WA 498 days 48 surgeries
36 Modbury Hospital Eardrum repair SA 487 days 16 surgeries
37 Sunshine Hospital Carpal tunnel surgery VIC 482 days 62 surgeries
38 John Hunter Hospital Eardrum repair NSW 481 days 14 surgeries
39 The Canberra Hospital Deviated septum surgery ACT 481 days 44 surgeries
40 Bowral Hospital Knee replacement NSW 473 days 78 surgeries
41 Fremantle Hospital and Health Service Excess eyelid skin removal WA 473 days 33 surgeries
42 Latrobe Regional Hospital [Traralgon] Keyhole sinus surgery VIC 473 days 54 surgeries
43 Sunshine Hospital Trigger finger release VIC 473 days 17 surgeries
44 Fremantle Hospital and Health Service Droopy eyelid repair WA 471 days 11 surgeries
45 Maitland Hospital Thyroid gland removal NSW 464 days 17 surgeries
46 Coffs Harbour Hospital Varicose vein surgery NSW 462 days 14 surgeries
47 Lismore Base Hospital Deviated septum surgery NSW 462 days 14 surgeries
48 Bowral Hospital Shoulder joint replacement NSW 456 days 14 surgeries
49 Fiona Stanley Hospital Keyhole sinus surgery WA 452 days 13 surgeries
50 Port Pirie Regional Health Service Adenoid removal SA 451 days 21 surgeries

What is not here

Public hospitals only. Private hospitals do not report to this collection, so their waiting times cannot be compared here.

A hospital doing very few of a surgery can publish an unusual median — how to read these figures.