Spinal disc removal
Spinal disc removal waiting times for planned surgery. Public hospitals that published a median wait in 2024–25: 30.
The source publishes this surgery as "Discectomy".
National figures
These figures cover every public hospital in Australia that reported this surgery. A national figure is never ranked.
- Median wait, Australia
- 41 days2024–25, released 19 August 2026
- Waiting more than 365 days, Australia
- 4.5%2024–25, released 19 August 2026
- Patients treated, Australia
- 1,400 surgeries2024–25, released 19 August 2026
By state and territory
The shortest median wait comes first. A state with no published median wait follows, in name order. Select a state to see its hospitals.
This table scrolls sideways on a narrow screen.
| State or territory | Median wait | Waiting more than 365 days | Patients treated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 29 days | 1.9% | 264 surgeries |
| Queensland | 37 days | 0.6% | 483 surgeries |
| New South Wales | 56 days | 8.8% | 500 surgeries |
| Western Australia | 62 days | 10.5% | 105 surgeries |
| Northern Territory | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 20 surgeries |
| South Australia | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 28 surgeries |
Hospitals by median wait
The shortest median wait comes first. A hospital with no published median wait follows, in name order, and has no rank.
A rank compares a hospital with every public hospital in Australia that published the same figure for the same period. The page shows a rank only on a current published figure. It never ranks a withheld or unreported figure. It also never ranks a figure from an earlier period.
This table scrolls sideways on a narrow screen.
| Hospital | Median wait | Waiting more than 365 days | Patients treated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Prince Alfred Hospital | 16 daysRank 1st of 30 nationally | 0.0%Rank 1st of 13 nationally | 58 surgeries |
| Monash Medical Centre [Clayton] | 21 daysRank 2nd of 30 nationally | 0.0%Rank 1st of 13 nationally | 59 surgeries |
| St George Hospital NSW | 22 daysRank 3rd of 30 nationally | 6.0%Rank 11th of 13 nationally | 50 surgeries |
| Mater Adult Hospital | 24 daysRank 4th of 30 nationally | 0.0%Rank 1st of 13 nationally | 174 surgeries |
| Royal Darwin Hospital | 26 daysRank 5th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 20 surgeries |
| Gold Coast University Hospital | 29 daysRank 6th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 39 surgeries |
| Joondalup Health Campus (Public) | 30 daysRank 7th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 25 surgeries |
| Osborne Park Hospital | 30 daysRank 7th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 10 surgeries |
| Royal Melbourne Hospital [City Campus] | 30 daysRank 7th of 30 nationally | 1.2%Rank 8th of 13 nationally | 85 surgeries |
| The Alfred | 32 daysRank 10th of 30 nationally | 0.0%Rank 1st of 13 nationally | 50 surgeries |
| Townsville University Hospital | 33 daysRank 11th of 30 nationally | 0.0%Rank 1st of 13 nationally | 56 surgeries |
| Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital [Heidelberg West] | 39 daysRank 12th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 18 surgeries |
| Royal Adelaide Hospital | 39 daysRank 12th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 21 surgeries |
| Austin Hospital [Heidelberg] | 41 daysRank 14th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 45 surgeries |
| Cairns Hospital | 42 daysRank 15th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 12 surgeries |
| Princess Alexandra Hospital | 44 daysRank 16th of 30 nationally | 0.0%Rank 1st of 13 nationally | 65 surgeries |
| Royal North Shore Hospital | 46 daysRank 17th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 33 surgeries |
| Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital | 49 daysRank 18th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 25 surgeries |
| Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital | 61 daysRank 19th of 30 nationally | 0.0%Rank 1st of 13 nationally | 65 surgeries |
| Concord Repatriation Hospital | 66 daysRank 20th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 44 surgeries |
| Prince of Wales Hospital | 66 daysRank 20th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 44 surgeries |
| St Vincent's Hospital [Darlinghurst] | 74 daysRank 22nd of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 16 surgeries |
| Westmead Hospital | 76 daysRank 23rd of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 31 surgeries |
| Wollongong Hospital | 77 daysRank 24th of 30 nationally | 4.3%Rank 10th of 13 nationally | 69 surgeries |
| Nepean Hospital | 79 daysRank 25th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 32 surgeries |
| Fiona Stanley Hospital | 93 daysRank 26th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 30 surgeries |
| Sunshine Coast University Hospital | 94 daysRank 27th of 30 nationally | 3.6%Rank 9th of 13 nationally | 56 surgeries |
| John Hunter Hospital | 117 daysRank 28th of 30 nationally | 21.3%Rank 12th of 13 nationally | 61 surgeries |
| Royal Perth Hospital Wellington Street Campus | 119 daysRank 29th of 30 nationally | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 15 surgeries |
| Liverpool Hospital | 124 daysRank 30th of 30 nationally | 23.5%Rank 13th of 13 nationally | 51 surgeries |
| Bankstown Lidcombe Hospital | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 7 surgeries |
| Flinders Medical Centre | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 7 surgeries |
| Logan Hospital | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 7 surgeries |
| Maitland Hospital | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: too few patients |
| Northeast Health Wangaratta | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: too few patients |
| Queensland Children's Hospital | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: too few patients |
| Rockhampton Hospital | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: too few patients |
| Royal Children's Hospital [Parkville] | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: too few patients |
| The Children's Hospital at Westmead | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: too few patients |
| The Tweed Hospital | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: too few patients |
| Toowoomba Hospital | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 6 surgeries |
| Western Hospital [Footscray] | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | not published: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare did not publish a figure | 5 surgeries |
How waits have changed
Each chart shows one figure for each year the source published it. A year with no published figure is a gap in the line, and the table under the chart gives the reason.
The charts show Australia and the three states that treated the most patients in 2024–25.
- Australia
- New South Wales
- Queensland
- Victoria
Show the figures as a table
This table scrolls sideways on a narrow screen.
| Financial year | Australia | New South Wales | Queensland | Victoria |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–17 | 41 days | 56 days | 31 days | 45 days |
| 2017–18 | 42 days | 60 days | 28 days | 58 days |
| 2018–19 | 43 days | 53 days | 36 days | 47 days |
| 2019–20 | 49 days | 56 days | 43 days | 47 days |
| 2020–21 | 49 days | 52 days | 46 days | 33 days |
| 2021–22 | 49 days | 54 days | 45 days | 34 days |
| 2022–23 | 60 days | 81 days | 32 days | 57 days |
| 2023–24 | 48 days | 62 days | 37 days | 45 days |
| 2024–25 | 41 days | 56 days | 37 days | 29 days |
Hospitals near a place
These pages list the public hospitals in and near one place that published a figure for this surgery.
What this page leaves out
Private hospitals are excluded. This page covers public hospitals only, so it shows no private hospital.
Before you use these figures
Surgery Waits is not medical advice. Your general practitioner and your treating specialist can help you decide what is right for you.
In an emergency, call 000.
Where this data comes from
- Dataset on publicdata.au
- Elective surgery waiting times by hospital and intended procedure, Australia
- Publisher
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
- Version
- 20 October 2026
- Data released
- 19 August 2026
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- How to cite this data
- Based on Australian Institute of Health and Welfare material. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Government, MyHospitals Data API, elective surgery waiting times data extract, sourced 19 October 2026, https://myhospitalsapi.aihw.gov.au/, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Serialised and versioned by National Digital at publicdata.au, https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/v/2026-10-20/
- Dataset on publicdata.au
- Hospitals, Local Hospital Networks and Primary Health Networks in MyHospitals, Australia
- Publisher
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
- Version
- 3 October 2026
- Data released
- 19 August 2026
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- How to cite this data
- Based on Australian Institute of Health and Welfare material. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Government, MyHospitals Data API, mapping details extract, sourced 3 October 2026, https://myhospitalsapi.aihw.gov.au/, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Serialised and versioned by National Digital at publicdata.au, https://publicdata.au/d/au-hospitals-myhospitals/v/2026-10-03/
- Dataset on publicdata.au
- Reported measures and their codes in MyHospitals, Australia
- Publisher
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
- Version
- 27 October 2026
- Data released
- The publisher gives no release date for this dataset.
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- How to cite this data
- Based on Australian Institute of Health and Welfare material. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Government, MyHospitals Data API, reported measures, sourced 26 October 2026, https://myhospitalsapi.aihw.gov.au/, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Serialised and versioned by National Digital at publicdata.au, https://publicdata.au/d/au-myhospitals-reported-measures/v/2026-10-27/
- Dataset on publicdata.au
- Reporting unit mappings to health networks and states in MyHospitals, Australia
- Publisher
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
- Version
- 27 October 2026
- Data released
- The publisher gives no release date for this dataset.
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- How to cite this data
- Based on Australian Institute of Health and Welfare material. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Government, MyHospitals Data API, reporting units, sourced 26 October 2026, https://myhospitalsapi.aihw.gov.au/, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Serialised and versioned by National Digital at publicdata.au, https://publicdata.au/d/au-myhospitals-reporting-unit-mappings/v/2026-10-27/
- Dataset on publicdata.au
- Reporting unit codes and alternative names in MyHospitals, Australia
- Publisher
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
- Version
- 27 October 2026
- Data released
- The publisher gives no release date for this dataset.
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- How to cite this data
- Based on Australian Institute of Health and Welfare material. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Government, MyHospitals Data API, reporting units, sourced 26 October 2026, https://myhospitalsapi.aihw.gov.au/, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Serialised and versioned by National Digital at publicdata.au, https://publicdata.au/d/au-myhospitals-reporting-units/v/2026-10-27/