--- title: "Brain surgery through the skull (craniotomy) waiting times in Australian public hospitals" description: "Median public-hospital waiting time for Brain surgery through the skull (craniotomy) in 2024–25: 20 days nationally, compared state by state and hospital by hospital." url: "https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/" --- # Brain surgery through the skull (craniotomy) waiting times in Australian public hospitals The national median wait for brain surgery through the skull (craniotomy) in Australian public hospitals was **20 days** in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Hospital medians ranged from 2 days at [Sydney Children's Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/sydney-childrens-hospital/craniotomy/) to 126 days at [Royal North Shore Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-north-shore-hospital/craniotomy/). The source publishes this surgery as "Craniotomy". Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released 28 May 2026. Across Australia, the median wait for brain surgery through the skull (craniotomy) in public hospitals was **20 days** in 2024–25, from 1392 surgeries. 0.9% of people waited more than 365 days. 25 public hospitals published a median wait for it. **[Compare this near you →](https://surgerywaits.au/)** On the compare page, pick "Craniotomy" 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 20 days marks the national median. - [New South Wales](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/nsw/): 15 days - [Victoria](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/vic/): 20 days - [Australian Capital Territory](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/act/): not published - [Northern Territory](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/nt/): not published - [Queensland](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/qld/): not published - [South Australia](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/sa/): not published - [Western Australia](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/wa/): not published Craniotomy in public hospitals by state and territory, 2024–25. States with the same median share a rank. Every figure was released on 2026-05-28. | Rank | State or territory | Median wait | Waited more than 365 days | Surgeries | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | [New South Wales](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/nsw/) | 15 days | 1.0% | 485 surgeries | | 2 | [Victoria](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/vic/) | 20 days | 0.8% | 723 surgeries | | unranked | [Australian Capital Territory](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/act/) | not published | not published | not published | | unranked | [Northern Territory](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/nt/) | not published | not published | not published | | unranked | [Queensland](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/qld/) | not published | not published | 70 surgeries | | unranked | [South Australia](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/sa/) | not published | not published | 95 surgeries | | unranked | [Western Australia](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/wa/) | not published | not published | 14 surgeries | Ranked by area: [near Camperdown](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/near/camperdown/) · [near Randwick](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/near/randwick/). ## How the wait has changed **View these numbers as a table** Median wait in days for Craniotomy, by financial year. Every figure was released on 2026-05-28. | Reference period | Australia (days) | NSW (days) | VIC (days) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2016–17 | 14 | 13 | 18 | | 2017–18 | 17 | 13 | 21 | | 2018–19 | 19 | 14 | 26 | | 2019–20 | 14 | 11 | 17 | | 2020–21 | 15 | 13 | 16 | | 2021–22 | 14 | 13 | 15 | | 2022–23 | 18 | 13 | 20 | | 2023–24 | 22 | 16 | 24 | | 2024–25 | 20 | 15 | 20 | ## Common questions ### How long is the wait for brain surgery through the skull (craniotomy) in a public hospital? The national median was 20 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Half of people waited less than that, half waited longer. State medians ranged from 15 days in New South Wales to 20 days in Victoria. ### Which public hospital has the shortest wait for brain surgery through the skull (craniotomy)? Of the 25 public hospitals that published a median for 2024–25, [Sydney Children's Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/sydney-childrens-hospital/craniotomy/) reported the shortest median, 2 days, and [Royal North Shore Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-north-shore-hospital/craniotomy/) the longest, 126 days (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). A shorter median is not a recommendation. [How to read these figures](https://surgerywaits.au/methodology/). ### How many people waited more than a year? 0.9% of people who had brain surgery through the skull (craniotomy) 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 brain surgery through the skull (craniotomy) in Australian public hospitals was 20 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). ### Copy-ready citation ``` Surgery Waits, "Brain surgery through the skull (craniotomy)", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/, accessed 28 May 2026. ``` Attribution: Surgery Waits ([https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/)), 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](https://surgerywaits.au/charts/craniotomy.svg) — free to embed or link with the attribution below: ``` Median public hospital waiting time for Brain surgery through the skull (craniotomy) 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](https://surgerywaits.au/methodology/). ## Before you use these figures Surgery Waits is not medical advice. It republishes official statistics about waiting times that have already happened, and it does not recommend any hospital, doctor or treatment. Your general practitioner (GP) and your treating specialist are the right people to help you decide what is appropriate for you. **In an emergency call 000.** Waiting-time figures: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare MyHospitals, licensed under [CC BY 3.0 AU](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/). Quarterly state figures: Queensland Health. Suburb and locality data: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Both licensed under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Surgery Waits is not connected with any of these organisations. Surgery Waits is published by [National Digital](https://nationaldigital.com.au/). * * * This is the Markdown copy of https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/craniotomy/.