Retina surgery waiting times in Australian public hospitals
The national median wait for retina surgery in Australian public hospitals was 26 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Hospital medians ranged from 11 days at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital to 93 days at Fremantle Hospital and Health Service. The source publishes this surgery as "Vitrectomy (including buckling/cryotherapy)".
Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released 28 May 2026.
Across Australia, the median wait for retina surgery in public hospitals was 26 days in 2024–25, from 3742 surgeries. 2.6% of people waited more than 365 days. 25 public hospitals published a median wait for it.
Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Vitrectomy (including buckling/cryotherapy)" 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 26 days marks the national median.
Victoria: 20 days
South Australia: 28 days
Western Australia: 32 days
New South Wales: 34 days
Australian Capital Territory: not published
Northern Territory: not published
Queensland: not published
| Rank | State or territory | Median wait | Waited more than 365 days | Surgeries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victoria | 20 days | 1.5% | 1241 surgeries |
| 2 | South Australia | 28 days | 3.5% | 400 surgeries |
| 3 | Western Australia | 32 days | 1.1% | 566 surgeries |
| 4 | New South Wales | 34 days | 3.6% | 1400 surgeries |
| unranked | Australian Capital Territory | not published | not published | 56 surgeries |
| unranked | Northern Territory | not published | not published | 64 surgeries |
| unranked | Queensland | not published | not published | 15 surgeries |
Ranked by area: near Camperdown.
How the wait has changed
- Australia
- VIC
- SA
- WA
View these numbers as a table
| Reference period | Australia (days) | VIC (days) | SA (days) | WA (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 28 |
| 2017–18 | 21 | 16 | 27 | 27 |
| 2018–19 | 22 | 16 | 19 | 25 |
| 2019–20 | 21 | 13 | 27 | 25 |
| 2020–21 | 19 | 12 | 23 | 24 |
| 2021–22 | 18 | 14 | 17 | 26 |
| 2022–23 | 24 | 18 | 29 | 34 |
| 2023–24 | 22 | 18 | 22 | 35 |
| 2024–25 | 26 | 20 | 28 | 32 |
Common questions
How long is the wait for retina surgery in a public hospital?
The national median was 26 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). Half of people waited less than that, half waited longer. State medians ranged from 20 days in Victoria to 34 days in New South Wales.
Which public hospital has the shortest wait for retina surgery?
Of the 25 public hospitals that published a median for 2024–25, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital reported the shortest median, 11 days, and Fremantle Hospital and Health Service the longest, 93 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?
2.6% of people who had retina 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 retina surgery in Australian public hospitals was 26 days in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026).
Copy-ready citation
Surgery Waits, "Retina surgery waiting list by state, 2024–25", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/vitrectomy-including-buckling-cryotherapy/, accessed 28 May 2026.Attribution: Surgery Waits (https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/vitrectomy-including-buckling-cryotherapy/), 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/vitrectomy-including-buckling-cryotherapy.svg" width="720" height="284" alt="Median public hospital waiting time for Retina 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.