Armpit lymph node removal waiting times in Australian public hospitals
The national median wait for armpit lymph node removal in Australian public hospitals was 12 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Hospital medians ranged from 6 days at Joondalup Health Campus (Public) to 24 days at Calvary Mater Newcastle. The source publishes this surgery as "Axillary node dissection".
Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released 28 May 2026.
Across Australia, the median wait for armpit lymph node removal in public hospitals was 12 days in 2024–25, from 494 surgeries. 0.6% of people waited more than 365 days. 11 public hospitals published a median wait for it.
Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Axillary node dissection" 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 12 days marks the national median.
Western Australia: 9 days
Victoria: 12 days
New South Wales: 16 days
Northern Territory: not published
South Australia: not published
| Rank | State or territory | Median wait | Waited more than 365 days | Surgeries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Western Australia | 9 days | 0.0% | 169 surgeries |
| 2 | Victoria | 12 days | 0.0% | 155 surgeries |
| 3 | New South Wales | 16 days | 0.0% | 130 surgeries |
| unranked | Northern Territory | not published | not published | 7 surgeries |
| unranked | South Australia | not published | not published | 33 surgeries |
Ranked by area: near Murdoch.
How the wait has changed
- Australia
- WA
- VIC
- NSW
View these numbers as a table
| Reference period | Australia (days) | WA (days) | VIC (days) | NSW (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | 11 | 9 | 9 | not published |
| 2017–18 | 12 | 11 | 10 | not published |
| 2018–19 | 13 | 14 | 11 | not published |
| 2019–20 | 11 | 11 | 10 | not published |
| 2020–21 | 10 | not published | not published | not published |
| 2021–22 | 12 | 8 | 13 | not published |
| 2022–23 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 14 |
| 2023–24 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 15 |
| 2024–25 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 16 |
Common questions
How long is the wait for armpit lymph node removal in a public hospital?
The national median was 12 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Half of people waited less than that, half waited longer. State medians ranged from 9 days in Western Australia to 16 days in New South Wales.
Which public hospital has the shortest wait for armpit lymph node removal?
Of the 11 public hospitals that published a median for 2024–25, Joondalup Health Campus (Public) reported the shortest median, 6 days, and Calvary Mater Newcastle the longest, 24 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?
0.6% of people who had armpit lymph node removal 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 armpit lymph node removal in Australian public hospitals was 12 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026).
Copy-ready citation
Surgery Waits, "Armpit lymph node removal waiting list", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/axillary-node-dissection/, accessed 28 May 2026.Attribution: Surgery Waits (https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/axillary-node-dissection/), 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/axillary-node-dissection.svg" width="720" height="250" alt="Median public hospital waiting time for Armpit lymph node removal 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.