Carpal tunnel surgery waiting times in Australian public hospitals
The national median wait for carpal tunnel surgery in Australian public hospitals was 71 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Hospital medians ranged from 1 day at Deniliquin Hospital to 482 days at Sunshine Hospital. The source publishes this surgery as "Carpal tunnel release".
Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released 28 May 2026.
Across Australia, the median wait for carpal tunnel surgery in public hospitals was 71 days in 2024–25, from 9994 surgeries. 5.2% of people waited more than 365 days. 160 public hospitals published a median wait for it.
Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Carpal tunnel release" 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 71 days marks the national median.
South Australia: 49 days
Victoria: 53 days
Tasmania: 63 days
Western Australia: 71 days
Queensland: 74 days
New South Wales: 96 days
Northern Territory: not published
| Rank | State or territory | Median wait | Waited more than 365 days | Surgeries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Australia | 49 days | 2.8% | 808 surgeries |
| 2 | Victoria | 53 days | 3.5% | 2456 surgeries |
| 3 | Tasmania | 63 days | 4.2% | 381 surgeries |
| 4 | Western Australia | 71 days | 3.6% | 1198 surgeries |
| 5 | Queensland | 74 days | 4.2% | 2245 surgeries |
| 6 | New South Wales | 96 days | 8.9% | 2847 surgeries |
| unranked | Northern Territory | not published | not published | 59 surgeries |
Ranked by area: near Box Hill · near Camperdown · near Clayton · near Herston · near Westmead · near Woolloongabba · and 18 more areas on the state pages.
How the wait has changed
- Australia
- SA
- VIC
- TAS
View these numbers as a table
| Reference period | Australia (days) | SA (days) | VIC (days) | TAS (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | 56 | 33 | 42 | 77 |
| 2017–18 | 61 | 38 | 45 | 83 |
| 2018–19 | 62 | 36 | 41 | 97 |
| 2019–20 | 70 | 45 | 52 | 84 |
| 2020–21 | 80 | 65 | 87 | 105 |
| 2021–22 | 82 | 69 | 85 | 112 |
| 2022–23 | 83 | 72 | 80 | 78 |
| 2023–24 | 72 | 57 | 54 | 63 |
| 2024–25 | 71 | 49 | 53 | 63 |
Common questions
How long is the wait for carpal tunnel surgery in a public hospital?
The national median was 71 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Half of people waited less than that, half waited longer. State medians ranged from 49 days in South Australia to 96 days in New South Wales.
Which public hospital has the shortest wait for carpal tunnel surgery?
Of the 160 public hospitals that published a median for 2024–25, Deniliquin Hospital reported the shortest median, 1 day, and Sunshine Hospital the longest, 482 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?
5.2% of people who had carpal tunnel 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 carpal tunnel surgery in Australian public hospitals was 71 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026).
Copy-ready citation
Surgery Waits, "Carpal tunnel surgery waiting list by state, 2024–25", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/carpal-tunnel-surgery/, accessed 28 May 2026.Attribution: Surgery Waits (https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/carpal-tunnel-surgery/), 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/carpal-tunnel-surgery.svg" width="720" height="352" alt="Median public hospital waiting time for Carpal tunnel 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.