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Ear, nose and throat surgery waiting times in Australia

How long public patients wait for ear, nose and throat surgery operations, at each public hospital and in each state — official AIHW figures, checked daily.

National median wait (public)99 days2024-07-01 – 2025-06-30

Public hospitals reporting141with a published median

As a public patientFreeunder Medicare

As a private patientAsk for a quotefees vary by surgeon and hospital

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Median wait by state and territory

State / territory	Median wait
Qld	68 days
Vic	85 days
SA	91 days
Tas	100 days
WA	111 days
NT	116 days
ACT	224 days
NSW	252 days

Shortest waits at public hospitals

The 15 public hospitals with the shortest median wait for ear, nose and throat surgery operations, out of 141 reporting.

Hospital	State	Local health network	Median wait	Operations in the year
Thursday Island Hospital	Qld	Torres and Cape	1 days	29
Weipa Hospital	Qld	Torres and Cape	1 days	27
Karratha Health Campus	WA	WA Country Health Service	1 days	21
Cooktown Hospital	Qld	Torres and Cape	5 days	11
Kalgoorlie Health Campus	WA	WA Country Health Service	7 days	11
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre	Vic	Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute (Vic)	12 days	272
Port Lincoln Health Service	SA	Eyre and Far North	13 days	89
Royal Adelaide Hospital	SA	Central Adelaide	18 days	843
Dandenong Hospital	Vic	Monash Health	19 days	93
Princess Alexandra Hospital	Qld	Metro South (Qld)	20 days	461
Ceduna District Health Service	SA	Eyre and Far North	21 days	19
Western Hospital [Footscray]	Vic	Western Health (Vic)	25 days	188
Austin Hospital [Heidelberg]	Vic	Austin Health (Vic)	29 days	652
Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital	Qld	Metro North (Qld)	29 days	785
Riverland General Hospital	SA	Riverland Mallee Coorong	29 days	50

Common questions

How long is the public waiting list for ear, nose and throat surgery operations in Australia?

Half of patients admitted from public hospital waiting lists for ear, nose and throat surgery operations waited 99 days or less (national median, 2024-07-01 to 2025-06-30). By state it ranged from 68 days (Qld) to 252 days (NSW).

Can I avoid the wait?

As a private patient you choose your surgeon and usually wait less, but you pay fees, partly covered by Medicare and any private health insurance. Private hospitals don't publish waiting times.

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) — MyHospitals, elective surgery waiting times, 2024-07-01 to 2025-06-30. All data sources.

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