Joint fusion surgery waiting times in Australian public hospitals
The national median wait for joint fusion surgery in Australian public hospitals was 158 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Hospital medians ranged from 10 days at The Alfred to 428 days at Toowoomba Hospital. The source publishes this surgery as "Arthrodesis".
Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released 28 May 2026.
Across Australia, the median wait for joint fusion surgery in public hospitals was 158 days in 2024–25, from 1563 surgeries. 19.3% of people waited more than 365 days. 51 public hospitals published a median wait for it.
Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Arthrodesis" 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
Bars show the median wait in days. The vertical line at 158 days marks the national median.
Victoria: 110 days
Western Australia: 128 days
Queensland: 132 days
New South Wales: 307 days
Northern Territory: not published
South Australia: not published
Tasmania: not published
| Rank | State or territory | Median wait | Waited more than 365 days | Surgeries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victoria | 110 days | 16.2% | 334 surgeries |
| 2 | Western Australia | 128 days | 10.4% | 163 surgeries |
| 3 | Queensland | 132 days | 19.9% | 562 surgeries |
| 4 | New South Wales | 307 days | 23.6% | 377 surgeries |
| unranked | Northern Territory | not published | not published | 11 surgeries |
| unranked | South Australia | not published | not published | 29 surgeries |
| unranked | Tasmania | not published | not published | 87 surgeries |
Ranked by area: near Clayton · near Fitzroy · near Herston · near Liverpool · near Prahran · near Woolloongabba · and 3 more areas on the state pages.
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 | 101 | 60 | 84 | 78 |
| 2017–18 | 105 | 69 | 87 | 93 |
| 2018–19 | 111 | 64 | 110 | 126 |
| 2019–20 | 107 | 55 | 115 | 109 |
| 2020–21 | 182 | 71 | 154 | 139 |
| 2021–22 | 185 | 113 | 139 | 128 |
| 2022–23 | 203 | 147 | 154 | 162 |
| 2023–24 | 171 | 123 | 141 | 151 |
| 2024–25 | 158 | 110 | 128 | 132 |
Common questions
How long is the wait for joint fusion surgery in a public hospital?
The national median was 158 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Half of people waited less than that, half waited longer. State medians ranged from 110 days in Victoria to 307 days in New South Wales.
Which public hospital has the shortest wait for joint fusion surgery?
Of the 51 public hospitals that published a median for 2024–25, The Alfred reported the shortest median, 10 days, and Toowoomba Hospital the longest, 428 days (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). A shorter median is not a recommendation. How to read these figures.
How many people waited more than a year?
19.3% of people who had joint fusion surgery in an Australian public hospital in 2024–25 waited more than 365 days (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026).
Cite this page
The national median wait for joint fusion surgery in Australian public hospitals was 158 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026).
Copy-ready citation
Surgery Waits, "Joint fusion surgery waiting list by state, 2024–25", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/arthrodesis/, accessed 28 May 2026.Attribution: Surgery Waits (https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/arthrodesis/), 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/arthrodesis.svg" width="720" height="284" alt="Median public hospital waiting time for Joint fusion surgery 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.