--- title: Elective surgery waiting times by hospital and intended procedure, Australia resource: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/ publisher: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare licence: CC BY 4.0 licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ version: 2026-10-20 as_at: 2026-08-19 rows: 183929 fields: 11 source: https://myhospitalsapi.aihw.gov.au/api/v1/measure-downloads/myh-es source_sha256: ec085bef704b5669bb936c65004c3dee5defee559bf7b0fa0dc1763fd705d10c language: en-AU operator: National Digital not_endorsed: true --- # Elective surgery waiting times by hospital and intended procedure, Australia Median waiting times for elective surgery and the share who waited more than a year, for each public hospital and network by intended procedure each year since 2011-12, from AIHW MyHospitals. Published by Australian Institute of Health and Welfare under CC BY 4.0. National Digital converted the publisher's file to other formats. It renamed and typed the columns and kept only those the schema lists. It made each suppressed value a null with a flag. National Digital made these changes, and the publisher is not responsible for them. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has not endorsed this site. Also called: Surgery waiting times by procedure and hospital, Hip and knee replacement waiting times by hospital, Cataract surgery waiting times Australia, Elective surgery median wait by intended procedure. ## Download Latest version, redirects to `https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/v/2026-10-20/`: - csv: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/latest/data.csv (28 MB) - xlsx: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/latest/data.xlsx (8.3 MB) - parquet: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/latest/data.parquet (915 KB) - sqlite: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/latest/data.sqlite (42 MB) - duckdb: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/latest/data.duckdb - ndjson: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/latest/data.ndjson (69 MB) - csv.gz: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/latest/data.csv.gz (2.3 MB) JSON is not offered because the table is 68.6 MB as NDJSON, over the 50 MB limit for JSON. Pinned version 2026-10-20: `https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/v/2026-10-20/data.`. Dated versions keep their content. ## Query The query API returns only the rows you ask for, as JSON, NDJSON or CSV, from the same typed rows as the files. It needs no key. Rows: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/rows. Counts and sums: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/aggregate. - Rows: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/rows?year=eq.2024%E2%80%9325&reporting_unit_type=eq.State&intended_procedure=eq.Total%20knee%20replacement&limit=5 - Aggregate: https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/aggregate?group=reporting_unit&metric=max.median_wait_days&year=eq.2024%E2%80%9325&reporting_unit_type=eq.State&intended_procedure=eq.Total%20knee%20replacement Each filter is `field=operator.value` in the query string, and every filter must match. A number or date field compares as a number or date, and a text field compares as text. Values are case-sensitive, except that `like` and `ilike` ignore case in the ASCII letters A to Z. Prefix `not.` to negate a filter, as `not.eq.value`. Operators: `eq.value`, `neq.value`, `gt.value`, `gte.value`, `lt.value`, `lte.value`, `like.*text*`, `ilike.*text*`, `in.(a,b,c)`, `is.null`. - `select`: Fields to return, comma-separated. Every field when absent. - `order`: `field.asc` or `field.desc`, comma-separated. When absent, rows come in the order of the file they are read from. For the newest versions that is the version's own data.parquet, which keeps the publisher's order unless the dataset sorted it. Any other version is read from the Parquet file the answer names in `file`, and when that file is sorted the answer names its sort in `order`, which ties follow too. - `limit`: Rows per page, 1 to 10,000. 100 when absent. - `offset`: Rows to skip. The `next` URL in each answer sets it for you. - `group`: On `aggregate`, fields to group by, comma-separated. - `metric`: On `aggregate`, `count`, `sum.field`, `avg.field`, `min.field` or `max.field`, comma-separated. `count` when absent. - `format`: `json`, `ndjson` or `csv`. JSON carries the provenance header, and the others carry it in response headers. Without a version the API answers from the newest version, and that answer changes when the publisher releases again. Put `versions//` before `rows` or `aggregate` for an answer from that version alone. Every version with a table can be queried, and `/api/v1/datasets//versions` lists them. A query on a version the database does not hold is read from its Parquet file, and one that would read too much of it is refused with DuckDB SQL that answers it from the file. The API allows 60 requests in 10 seconds from one address. Above that it answers 429 for 10 seconds with a `Retry-After` header, a `RateLimit-Policy` header and a JSON body that gives the limit. Every API answer carries the same `RateLimit-Policy`. A client should wait the `Retry-After` seconds, or read the files, which have no limit. OpenAPI for this dataset: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/openapi.json ## Explore Charts and dashboards in the browser: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/explore/. A dashboard can be shared as a link or embedded. ## Smaller files - by `state`: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/v/2026-10-20/by/state/index.json lists 9 files ## Fields | field | type | publisher's header | note | |---|---|---|---| | `reporting_unit` | string | Reporting unit | | | `reporting_unit_type` | string | Reporting unit type | | | `state` | string | State | | | `peer_group` | string | Peer group | | | `year` | string | Year | | | `intended_procedure` | string | Intended procedure | | | `surgeries` | integer | Number of surgeries | | | `median_wait_days` | integer | Median waiting time (days) | | | `peer_group_median_days` | integer | Peer group median (days) | | | `share_waited_over_365_days` | number | Percentage who waited more than 365 days for surgery | The fraction of patients who waited more than 365 days for surgery, 0.05 for 5 per cent. | | `peer_group_average` | number | Peer group average | | Key: `reporting_unit, reporting_unit_type, year, intended_procedure`. ## Versions - 2026-10-20 as at 19 August 2026: 183929 rows, 11 fields, sha256 ec085bef704b. https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/v/2026-10-20/ Machine-readable: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/versions.json, https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/changes.json, https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/datapackage.json, https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/schema.json, https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/history.tar.zst ## Part of AIHW MyHospitals - [Hospitals, Local Hospital Networks and Primary Health Networks in MyHospitals, Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/au-hospitals-myhospitals/) - [Emergency department patients seen on time by hospital and triage category, Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/au-ed-patients-seen-on-time/) - [Elective surgery waiting times by hospital and urgency category, Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times/) - [Elective surgery waiting times by hospital and surgical specialty, Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-specialty/) ## Same subject, other publishers - [Elective surgery by urgency category and hospital, Queensland, each quarter](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-elective-surgery-by-category/) (Qld) - [People waiting and median waits in emergency departments, Queensland, live](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-emergency-department-waits-now/) (Qld) - [Public dental waiting lists by clinic, Queensland, latest quarter](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-public-dental-waiting-lists/) (Qld) - [Elective surgery by specialty and hospital, Queensland, each quarter](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-elective-surgery-by-specialty/) (Qld) - [Emergency department busyness by day and hour, Queensland](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-emergency-department-busyness/) (Qld) - [Public hospital emergency departments and minor injury clinics, Queensland, live list](https://publicdata.au/d/qld-emergency-department-facilities/) (Qld) - [Public hospital locations, South Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/sa-public-hospitals/) (SA) - [Private hospital locations, South Australia](https://publicdata.au/d/sa-private-hospitals/) (SA) - [Ambulance Victoria response times by council area, 2018-19](https://publicdata.au/d/vic-ambulance-response-times-by-lga/) (Vic) - [Ambulance Victoria response times by town and city, 2017-18](https://publicdata.au/d/vic-ambulance-response-times-by-town/) (Vic) - [Measles public exposure sites, Victoria](https://publicdata.au/d/vic-measles-exposure-sites/) (Vic) ## Attribution and citation 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. The licence requires the publisher's attribution. We ask that you also name publicdata.au and link to the version you used. Plain text: 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/ Harvard: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2026) Elective surgery waiting times by hospital and intended procedure, Australia, version 2026-10-20 [data set], CC BY 4.0, sourced 19 October 2026. Serialised and versioned by National Digital at publicdata.au. Available at: https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/v/2026-10-20/ Markdown: Data: [AIHW MyHospitals](https://www.aihw.gov.au/copyright), Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), sourced 19 October 2026. Files: [publicdata.au](https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/v/2026-10-20/) by [National Digital](https://nationaldigital.com.au/). ## Questions ### How do I download Elective surgery waiting times by hospital and intended procedure as a CSV file? Open https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/latest/data.csv. It redirects to the newest dated version, which is https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/v/2026-10-20/data.csv today. The same path serves Excel, Parquet, SQLite, DuckDB, NDJSON. A dated URL never changes, so use it when the file must stay the same. ### Can I open Elective surgery waiting times by hospital and intended procedure in Excel? Yes. https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/v/2026-10-20/data.xlsx is a workbook with the 183,929 rows on a records sheet, the field list on a second sheet and the provenance on a third. The CSV also opens in Excel. https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/v/2026-10-20/data.csv.gz is the CSV at about a tenth of the size. ### What years does Elective surgery waiting times by hospital and intended procedure cover? The current version covers 2011 to 2026, as at 19 August 2026. Each release from AIHW becomes a new dated version here, and earlier versions stay online. ### How often is Elective surgery waiting times by hospital and intended procedure updated? AIHW releases it several times a year. This site checks the portal every week and adds a dated version when the file changes. ### Can I use Elective surgery waiting times by hospital and intended procedure commercially? Yes. CC BY 4.0 allows commercial use, redistribution and derived works as long as the attribution is kept. The attribution string is in this page's side column and inside every file. ### Is this the official source for Elective surgery waiting times by hospital and intended procedure? No. The publisher is Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and its page is https://www.aihw.gov.au/copyright. National Digital converted the publisher's file to other formats. It renamed and typed the columns and kept only those the schema lists. It made each suppressed value a null with a flag. National Digital made these changes, and the publisher is not responsible for them. The original sits beside every version as source.xlsx with its SHA-256, so the two can be compared. ### How do I get only the rows for one state? Every version has one JSON file per value of `state`, 9 files in the current version, listed with row counts at https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/v/2026-10-20/by/state/index.json. For example https://publicdata.au/d/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure/v/2026-10-20/by/state/nsw.json holds the 57,879 rows where `state` is `NSW`. ### What is in each row? One public hospital, Local Hospital Network, state or the nation, one financial year from 2011-12 and one intended procedure. It gives the number of elective surgeries, the median days waited, the share of patients who waited more than 365 days, and the peer group's median and average beside them. ### Why are there more procedures from 2016-17? In 2016-17 the Institute replaced its list of 15 indicator procedures with a list of 152 intended procedures. Years before 2016-17 hold only the earlier list, so a comparison over time should allow for the change. ### What do the blanks mean? The Institute writes `<5` for a count under five and `NP` where the data did not meet its criteria. Those cells are null here with a suppressed flag. Only the number of surgeries is ever `<5` and only the other figures are ever `NP`, so the field the flag names tells you which code was written. A dash, meaning no patients were reported, and Not peered are null. Peer group results appear only where more than two hospitals in the peer group performed the procedure. The share who waited more than 365 days is a fraction, so 0.05 means 5 per cent. ### How does this join to the hospital list? Each row names its reporting unit as the Institute's list of hospitals and networks in this collection names it, so the two join on the name and the reporting unit type, which give one unit each. The code is on the hospital list. ## What this site did to the data Cells were typed, headers were renamed to snake_case and the encoding was made UTF-8. Rows were left alone. Nothing is derived. The publisher's file is beside every version as `source.xlsx`. ## Improve this dataset This page is built from [register/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure.yaml](https://github.com/National-Digital/publicdata.au/blob/main/register/au-elective-surgery-waiting-times-by-procedure.yaml) on GitHub, and a fix to it is welcome as a pull request. https://publicdata.au/contribute/ explains how.