Urgency categories explained
This page explains what categories 1, 2 and 3 mean. It also says who decides your category and how often each public hospital treats people within the recommended time.
The figures are for 2024–25. The data was released on 19 August 2026.
When you join a public hospital waiting list for planned surgery, your treating specialist gives you an urgency category. The specialist assigns it after assessing you. It is a clinical judgement about how soon your surgery should happen. You do not choose it, and this site cannot work it out for you.
The three categories
The recommended time is a target. Each hospital reports how many people it treated within that time. This site shows that share hospital by hospital, with the highest share first.
- Category 1, urgentSurgery is recommended within 30 days.234 public hospitals published a share treated on time.
- Category 2, semi-urgentSurgery is recommended within 90 days.245 public hospitals published a share treated on time.
- Category 3, non-urgentSurgery is recommended within 365 days.246 public hospitals published a share treated on time.
By state and territory
Each link opens the public hospitals of one state or territory for one category.
Category 1, urgent
- Australian Capital Territory: Category 1, urgent
- New South Wales: Category 1, urgent
- Northern Territory: Category 1, urgent
- Queensland: Category 1, urgent
- South Australia: Category 1, urgent
- Tasmania: Category 1, urgent
- Victoria: Category 1, urgent
- Western Australia: Category 1, urgent
Category 2, semi-urgent
- Australian Capital Territory: Category 2, semi-urgent
- New South Wales: Category 2, semi-urgent
- Northern Territory: Category 2, semi-urgent
- Queensland: Category 2, semi-urgent
- South Australia: Category 2, semi-urgent
- Tasmania: Category 2, semi-urgent
- Victoria: Category 2, semi-urgent
- Western Australia: Category 2, semi-urgent
Category 3, non-urgent
- Australian Capital Territory: Category 3, non-urgent
- New South Wales: Category 3, non-urgent
- Northern Territory: Category 3, non-urgent
- Queensland: Category 3, non-urgent
- South Australia: Category 3, non-urgent
- Tasmania: Category 3, non-urgent
- Victoria: Category 3, non-urgent
- Western Australia: Category 3, non-urgent
How categories relate to waiting times by surgery
The waiting time for a surgery, such as a hip replacement, covers everyone who had that surgery in all three categories together. A hospital page shows the surgery figures and the urgency figures separately, because the publisher does not report a figure for one surgery in one category.
A hospital with a short median wait for your surgery may be slower or faster for your category. Take both numbers to your appointment.
What to ask your specialist
- What urgency category am I likely to be, and why?
- What is the recommended time for that category, and how often does this hospital meet it?
- Does my category change if my condition changes while I wait?
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 urgency category, 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, elective surgery waiting times data 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-elective-surgery-waiting-times/v/2026-10-03/
- 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/