Cornea transplant waiting times in Australian public hospitals
The national median wait for cornea transplant in Australian public hospitals was 96 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Hospital medians ranged from 67 days at The Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital to 203 days at Royal Adelaide Hospital. The source publishes this surgery as "Corneal graft".
Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released 28 May 2026.
Across Australia, the median wait for cornea transplant in public hospitals was 96 days in 2024–25, from 398 surgeries. 5.5% of people waited more than 365 days. 13 public hospitals published a median wait for it.
Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Corneal graft" 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 96 days marks the national median.
Queensland: 88 days
Western Australia: 105 days
New South Wales: not published
Northern Territory: not published
South Australia: not published
Victoria: not published
| Rank | State or territory | Median wait | Waited more than 365 days | Surgeries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Queensland | 88 days | 3.9% | 152 surgeries |
| 2 | Western Australia | 105 days | 3.1% | 129 surgeries |
| unranked | New South Wales | not published | not published | 17 surgeries |
| unranked | Northern Territory | not published | not published | not published |
| unranked | South Australia | not published | not published | 50 surgeries |
| unranked | Victoria | not published | not published | 46 surgeries |
Ranked by area: near Herston.
How the wait has changed
- Australia
- QLD
- WA
View these numbers as a table
| Reference period | Australia (days) | QLD (days) | WA (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | 70 | 70 | not published |
| 2017–18 | 79 | 84 | not published |
| 2018–19 | 78 | 78 | not published |
| 2019–20 | 77 | 85 | not published |
| 2020–21 | 73 | 77 | not published |
| 2021–22 | 83 | 74 | not published |
| 2022–23 | 83 | 85 | not published |
| 2023–24 | 103 | 89 | 121 |
| 2024–25 | 96 | 88 | 105 |
Common questions
How long is the wait for cornea transplant in a public hospital?
The national median was 96 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Half of people waited less than that, half waited longer. State medians ranged from 88 days in Queensland to 105 days in Western Australia.
Which public hospital has the shortest wait for cornea transplant?
Of the 13 public hospitals that published a median for 2024–25, The Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital reported the shortest median, 67 days, and Royal Adelaide Hospital the longest, 203 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?
5.5% of people who had cornea transplant 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 cornea transplant in Australian public hospitals was 96 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026).
Copy-ready citation
Surgery Waits, "Cornea transplant waiting list by state, 2024–25", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/corneal-graft/, accessed 28 May 2026.Attribution: Surgery Waits (https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/corneal-graft/), 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/corneal-graft.svg" width="720" height="216" alt="Median public hospital waiting time for Cornea transplant 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.