Hospitals

Wollongong Hospital & Health Precinct

Residents in the Illawarra will benefit from a $220 million commitment from the NSW Government to plan for future expansion of the Wollongong Hospital and Health Precinct.

It’s the first step in the future redevelopment of the Wollongong Hospital and Health Precinct and includes early and enabling works with site investigation and refurbishment works.

This investment will help Wollongong Hospital meet significant increases in healthcare demands, due to a growing and ageing population, with the Illawarra region expecting 25,000 more admissions and an additional 39,000 emergency department presentations by 2031.

Shellharbour Hospital

Local residents will be able to better access the new Shellharbour Hospital with a provision for transport and road intersection upgrades.

Construction of the $781.9 million new Shellharbour Hospital is already underway and once complete, the new Shellharbour Hospital will transform access to healthcare for the Shellharbour community, providing a wide range of modern and expanded health services and reducing the need to travel out of the area for a range of treatments.

Moruya ambulance helicopter base

The Minns Labor Government is also committing an additional $158 million to deliver the NSW Government’s election commitment for three new regional helicopter bases including one to be located at Moruya to boost regional healthcare delivery and disaster response.

Maternity care package

The Government also announced an $83.8 million boost to maternity care including additional midwives, training towards respectful maternity care, as well as enhanced antenatal education and consumer information. 

It follows the findings of the NSW Parliament’s Birth Trauma Inquiry which received a significant proportion of submissions from the Illawarra region.

These investments continue the Minns Labor Government’s investment into Illawarra health services and hospitals, including:

• $28.8 million to support the Waminda Birth Centre and Community Hub, the first Aboriginal owned and midwifery-led free standing birth centre in Australia.
• Continuation of the $781.9 million towards Shellharbour Hospital, carpark and Integrated Services, including the new Warrawong Community Health Centre.
• Continuation of the $330.0 million for the new Eurobodalla Regional Hospital.
• Continuation of the $20.0 million for the Batemans Bay Community Health Facility.
• Continuation of the $440.4 million Shoalhaven Hospital Redevelopment.
• Continuation of the $21.9 million Wollongong Hospital package and the $7.5 million Milton Ulladulla Hospital upgrades.
• $70 million to expand emergency department short stay units to improve patient flow to reduce ED wait times by nearly 80,000 hours, with six ED Short Stay Unit treatment spaces to be added at Wollongong Hospital.
• $171.4 million to establish three additional virtual care services through the Single Front Door.

Education

The budget also revealed that the Minns Labor Government will build a new public school for West Dapto to be co-located with a new public pre-school as part of a record $9 billion for school infrastructure.

This builds on the government’s existing investments into education infrastructure in the Illawarra and South Coast, including:

• $300 million to upgrade schools, including Moruya, Vincentia, Bomaderry and Ulladulla high schools, and Ulladulla and Milton public schools
• A new preschool and primary school at Calderwood and planning underway for a new high school at Flinders.
• Announced 100 new public preschools for NSW with ten in the Illawarra and the South Coast
• 826 teachers and 620 school support staff who were temporary now made permanent across the Illawarra and South Coast
• As at the start of the 2025 school year, teacher vacancies had reduced by an average of 71.0 per cent across the Illawarra-Shoalhaven Local Government Areas, compared to the peak of the teacher shortage crisis in 2022.

Transport & roads

The budget sets aside $26 million for improved and additional bus services including right here in the Illawarra.

This adds to the Minns Labor Government’s investment in road and transport infrastructure in the Illawarra and South Coast including:

• $390 million investment to build a new Mount Ousley Interchange in partnership with the Commonwealth Government.
• Continuation of the $20 million feasibility study for Bulli Bypass.
• $164 million for major construction of Jervis Bay Road Intersection (joint federal funding).
• $10 million for Illawarra Rail Resilience plan to determine options to upgrade and rebuild infrastructure along the South Coast Line.
• $7.7 million to continue planning for Milton Ulladulla bypass (joint federal funding).
• $6.5 million to continue planning and assessments to update Picton Road between Nepean River and M1 Princes Motorway (joint federal funding).
• $20 million additional funding towards delivery of new south-facing ramps on the M1 Princes Motorway at Dapto (joint federal funding).
• $2 million to masterplan a 32-hectare site at King Street Warrawong, to create parklands, recreation, culture, arts and heritage, tourism and entertainment facilities for open public space use.
• $19.9 million to Wollongong Council for the construction of the Cleveland Road upgrade which will support the delivery of 3,000 to 5,000 new homes in the region by connecting the West Dapto Urban Release Area to both the Princes Highway and the M1 Motorway.
• $5 million for Landcom to deliver an additional 10 new homes at the South Coast Build to Rent project in Bombaderry, increasing the project to 60 new homes with 20% as affordable housing.

Jobs & Economy

The Minns Labor Government is partnering with coal-producing regions across NSW to deliver on its election commitment to establish the Future Jobs and Investment Authority, backed with $27.3 million in the budget.

The Authority will develop a framework to allow the funding to be spent on projects like infrastructure and post-mining land use planning, skills mapping, feasibility assessments and training programs.

The Authority will establish a local division right here in the Illawarra to ensure direct representation to the Authority and that all decisions are informed by local needs and priorities.

This local division will include representatives of industry, workers, local government and community groups to ensure local voices are guiding government action.

The Minns Labor Government’s 2025-26 Budget will also deliver a record $3.4 billion investment in TAFE and skills funding, as part of its plan to tackle the housing crisis by building the skilled workforce needed to construct more homes across the state.

The Government is investing $40.2 million over two years towards fee free apprenticeships and traineeships which will fund an additional 23,000 construction apprenticeships, providing people with access to free training for jobs including plumbing, carpentry and electrotechnology.

This continues the Minns Labor Government’s investment in jobs and the economy, including:

• $47 million to establish the TAFE NSW Centre of Excellence in Wollongong.
• $5 million for the BlueScope Surplus Land Masterplan, preparing for the creation of a jobs centre for the State within the Illawarra.
• $500,000 to investigate the transport infrastructure needed to support the redevelopment of BlueScope’s surplus lands.