Cataract surgery waiting times in Australian public hospitals
The national median wait for cataract surgery in Australian public hospitals was 106 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Hospital medians ranged from 1 day at Latrobe Regional Hospital [Traralgon] to 383 days at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The source publishes this surgery as "Cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion)".
Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released 28 May 2026.
Across Australia, the median wait for cataract surgery in public hospitals was 106 days in 2024–25, from 87841 surgeries. 11.5% of people waited more than 365 days. 132 public hospitals published a median wait for it.
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.
State by state
Bars show the median wait in days. The vertical line at 106 days marks the national median.
Victoria: 68 days
Queensland: 82 days
Western Australia: 82 days
South Australia: 84 days
Tasmania: 99 days
Northern Territory: 162 days
New South Wales: 268 days
| Rank | State or territory | Median wait | Waited more than 365 days | Surgeries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victoria | 68 days | 4.7% | 21008 surgeries |
| 2 | Queensland | 82 days | 1.9% | 8868 surgeries |
| 2 | Western Australia | 82 days | 5.1% | 12672 surgeries |
| 4 | South Australia | 84 days | 9.0% | 9054 surgeries |
| 5 | Tasmania | 99 days | 4.9% | 2623 surgeries |
| 6 | Northern Territory | 162 days | 20.4% | 921 surgeries |
| 7 | New South Wales | 268 days | 22.0% | 32695 surgeries |
Ranked by area: near the Adelaide CBD · near Camperdown · near Clayton · near Liverpool · near the Perth CBD · near Randwick · and 8 more areas on the state pages.
How the wait has changed
- Australia
- VIC
- QLD
- WA
View these numbers as a table
| Reference period | Australia (days) | VIC (days) | QLD (days) | WA (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | 89 | 61 | 51 | 38 |
| 2012–13 | 89 | 52 | 44 | 45 |
| 2013–14 | 79 | 41 | 52 | 43 |
| 2014–15 | 83 | 35 | 57 | 41 |
| 2015–16 | 93 | 56 | 64 | 37 |
| 2016–17 | 85 | 41 | 70 | 51 |
| 2017–18 | 87 | 40 | 87 | 63 |
| 2018–19 | 84 | 36 | 72 | 61 |
| 2019–20 | 98 | 49 | 83 | 59 |
| 2020–21 | 172 | 79 | 84 | 77 |
| 2021–22 | 158 | 84 | 84 | 108 |
| 2022–23 | 133 | 77 | 77 | 117 |
| 2023–24 | 119 | 89 | 76 | 98 |
| 2024–25 | 106 | 68 | 82 | 82 |
Common questions
How long is the wait for cataract surgery in a public hospital?
The national median was 106 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Half of people waited less than that, half waited longer. State medians ranged from 68 days in Victoria to 268 days in New South Wales.
Which public hospital has the shortest wait for cataract surgery?
Of the 132 public hospitals that published a median for 2024–25, Latrobe Regional Hospital [Traralgon] reported the shortest median, 1 day, and The Queen Elizabeth Hospital the longest, 383 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?
11.5% of people who had cataract 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 cataract surgery in Australian public hospitals was 106 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026).
Copy-ready citation
Surgery Waits, "Cataract surgery waiting list by state, 2024–25", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/cataract-surgery/, accessed 28 May 2026.Attribution: Surgery Waits (https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/cataract-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/cataract-surgery.svg" width="720" height="386" alt="Median public hospital waiting time for Cataract 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.