Waiting is a cost even when nobody sends a bill. This page uses the State's own targets and results.
Key findings
1. Semi-urgent surgery: overdue cases doubled
- Fact: WA Health reports the share of elective surgery cases waiting longer than the clinically recommended time. Its target in every category is "nil".
| Urgency category | Recommended time | 2019-20 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 (estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1 (urgent) | 30 days | 15.3% | 20.6% | 19.1% |
| Category 2 (semi-urgent) | 90 days | 14.4% | 30% | 28.4% |
| Category 3 (non-urgent) | 365 days | 5.1% | 11.6% | 10.2% |
Sources: 2021-22 Budget Paper 2, Volume 1, WA Health; 2026-27 Budget Paper 2, Volume 1, WA Health; WA Health, Elective Surgery Wait List guide
2. One in five urgent patients on the list has waited beyond 30 days
- Fact: Category 1 covers procedures that should be done within 30 days. In 2024-25, 20.6% of these cases had already waited longer. In East Metropolitan Health Service (including Royal Perth and Armadale) 39.7% of Category 2 cases were over time in 2025-26, up from 35.9% in 2024-25, and the service met its target in no category.
Sources: 2026-27 Budget Paper 2; East Metropolitan Health Service annual report 2025-26, KPI
3. Spending rose faster than the waits came down
- Fact: WA Health's total cost of services is budgeted at $16.2 billion in 2026-27, up from $14.1 billion in 2024-25 (not adjusted for inflation). Yet the Category 2 overdue share is estimated to have improved only from 30% in 2024-25 to 28.4% in 2025-26.
Source: 2026-27 Budget Paper 2, Volume 1, WA Health service summary
4. Planning approvals: silence means "no"
- Fact: Under the deemed provisions of the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015, a council has 60 days to decide a development application, or 90 days if it must be advertised or referred. If it does not decide in time, the application is "deemed refused", and the applicant's remedy is to appeal to the State Administrative Tribunal.
Source: Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015
5. Building permits work the same way
- Fact: Under the Building Act 2011 and Building Regulations 2012, a permit authority must decide a certified application within 10 business days and an uncertified one within 25 business days. The clock stops while the authority waits for further information it has asked for. A missed deadline is again treated as a refusal, although the application fee must then be refunded.
Sources: Building Act 2011, s23; Building Regulations 2012, r20
Our read: when deadlines are missed, the applicant gets a refusal (and at most a refunded fee) and must start again or appeal. Reversing the default, so a missed deadline counts as approval for simple applications, would put the cost of delay back on the people who cause it.
What could change
- Publish monthly overdue-surgery figures by hospital and category in one plain table.
- Use private hospital capacity under fixed-price contracts whenever public waits pass the target.
- Make simple, compliant planning and building applications "deemed approved" when the deadline passes.