Inguinal hernia repair waiting times in Australian public hospitals
The national median wait for inguinal hernia repair in Australian public hospitals was 73 days in 2024–25 — from 7 days at Ballarat Health Services [Base Hospital] to 335 days at Macksville District Hospital. The source publishes this surgery as "Inguinal herniotomy/herniorrhaphy".
Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released
The source splits hernia repair in two: this page covers "Inguinal herniotomy/herniorrhaphy" — groin hernias — and every other hernia, such as umbilical, femoral and incisional hernias, is on hernia repair.
Across Australia, the median wait for inguinal hernia repair in public hospitals was 73 days in 2024–25, from 16694 surgeries. 5.0% of people waited more than 365 days. 186 public hospitals published a median wait for it.
Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Inguinal herniotomy/herniorrhaphy" 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
| Rank | State or territory | Median wait | Waited more than 365 days | Surgeries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Territory | 43 days | 0.8% | 118 surgeries |
| 2 | Victoria | 45 days | 2.6% | 4290 surgeries |
| 3 | Queensland | 70 days | 3.0% | 3303 surgeries |
| 4 | Tasmania | 72 days | 10.0% | 360 surgeries |
| 5 | South Australia | 74 days | 4.7% | 1092 surgeries |
| 6 | Western Australia | 79 days | 3.2% | 1576 surgeries |
| 7 | New South Wales | 101 days | 8.1% | 5703 surgeries |
| 8 | Australian Capital Territory | 133 days | 10.3% | 252 surgeries |
How the wait has changed
- Australia
- NT
- VIC
- QLD
View these numbers as a table
| Reference period | Australia (days) | NT (days) | VIC (days) | QLD (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | 57 | 73 | 60 | 54 |
| 2012–13 | 60 | 52 | 71 | 65 |
| 2013–14 | 56 | 42 | 57 | 56 |
| 2014–15 | 51 | 54 | 42 | 47 |
| 2015–16 | 52 | 55 | 40 | 55 |
| 2016–17 | 52 | 36 | 38 | 58 |
| 2017–18 | 56 | 37 | 40 | 61 |
| 2018–19 | 59 | 46 | 39 | 66 |
| 2019–20 | 67 | 73 | 43 | 74 |
| 2020–21 | 76 | 35 | 71 | 64 |
| 2021–22 | 77 | not published | 81 | 70 |
| 2022–23 | 82 | 50 | 81 | 64 |
| 2023–24 | 70 | not published | 47 | 64 |
| 2024–25 | 73 | 43 | 45 | 70 |
Common questions
How long is the wait for inguinal hernia repair in a public hospital?
The national median was 73 days in 2024–25 — half of people waited less than that, half waited longer. State medians ranged from 43 days in Northern Territory to 133 days in Australian Capital Territory.
Which public hospital has the shortest wait for inguinal hernia repair?
Of the 186 public hospitals that published a median for 2024–25, Ballarat Health Services [Base Hospital] reported the shortest (7 days) and Macksville District Hospital the longest (335 days). A shorter median is not a recommendation — how to read these figures.
How many people waited more than a year?
5.0% of people who had inguinal hernia repair in an Australian public hospital in 2024–25 waited more than 365 days.
Cite this page
The national median wait for inguinal hernia repair in Australian public hospitals was 73 days in 2024–25, from 7 days at Ballarat Health Services [Base Hospital] to 335 days at Macksville District Hospital.
Copy-ready citation
SurgeryWaits, "Inguinal hernia repair waiting list by state, 2024–25", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/inguinal-hernia-repair/, accessed 28 May 2026.Attribution: SurgeryWaits (https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/inguinal-hernia-repair/), 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/inguinal-hernia-repair.svg" width="720" height="420" alt="Median public hospital waiting time for Inguinal hernia repair 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.