Wollongong

Wollongong grew from coal seams exposed in escarpment cliffs. When George Bass documented the Illawarra coal deposits in 1797, he identified the resource that would shape the city's next two centuries. By the 1880s, ten mines dotted the escarpment; in 1880, steam locomotives began hauling coal from Mount Keira to the harbour. But coal was just the beginning. In 1928, Charles Hoskins's wife Emily lit the first blast furnace at Port Kembla—relocating steel production from Lithgow to a site with better transport access. That furnace created Australia's largest concentration of heavy industry.

The Dharawal people had inhabited this coastal strip for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. The first township was laid out in 1834, but growth came slowly until the railway connected Wollongong to Sydney in the 1880s. The real transformation came with steel. By 1935, BHP had acquired Australian Iron and Steel, beginning decades of industrial dominance. Post-war migration brought Italian and Macedonian workers to the mills; the population surged from 91,000 in 1954 to 165,000 in 1976. The Hot Strip Mill (1949) and new production lines created a world-class flat-rolled steel producer making 5 million tonnes annually.

Australia's worst coal mining disaster struck in 1902 at Mount Kembla—94 men and boys died in an explosion, with two more killed in rescue attempts. The memory lingers in a region built on extractive industry. When BHP spun off its steel operations as BlueScope in 2002, Wollongong entered its post-industrial transition. The University of Wollongong, founded in 1975, became increasingly central to the economy—though it too faces challenges, with international student revenue dropping A$35 million in 2024 due to visa policy changes.

Today Wollongong is NSW's third-largest city, positioned for what may be the fastest-growing region in the state. Manufacturing added 4,600 jobs in 2024 alone; opportunities in defence, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing drive optimism. BlueScope's A$1.15 billion blast furnace reline—the priciest steelmaking project in Australian history—signals continued commitment to Port Kembla. The Steel Research Hub at UOW, backed by A$5 million federal funding, is developing decarbonized steelmaking processes. And in 2023, the Defence Department identified Port Kembla as the most likely homeport for future nuclear-powered submarines.

By 2026, Wollongong's bet is clear: from coal and steel to defence and clean energy. The Economic Development Strategy 2025-2035 targets 20,500 net new jobs. Whether the city can complete its transition before traditional manufacturing declines further remains the central question—but unlike Newcastle, Wollongong sees submarines and green steel as its future, not just hydrogen and hope.