Cost-of-living relief for all, but what's in the budget for the Illawarra?

The median rent in Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama reached $668, the highest ever.

As the price of housing reaches eyewatering levels, with nearly 13,000 households in rental stress across the Illawarra, the federal government has announced a central plank of its 2024 budget is to make housing more affordable.

Immediately, this will include an increase in the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance, benefiting 11,542 people in the Illawarra.

The government is also spending billions to build new housing and doling out cash to the states to build the infrastructure that unlocks housing, such as water mains, roads and sewage.

Community housing providers will have more access to federal government finance for an additional 40,000 homes.

But the CEO of one of the Illawarra's largest community housing providers says she's disappointed in the government's attempts to tackle one of the largest pressures on household budgets in the Illawarra.

"Given that the biggest cost of living expenses is housing this isn't a budget that's suggesting the government is willing or in fact interested in increasing the supply of social and affordable housing," Housing Trust CEO Michele Adair said after Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down his second budget on Tuesday night.

Ms Adair described many of the promises as re-announcements of earlier commitments, but welcomed the increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance.

"That makes the increase over the last couple of years quite significant, the government is to be congratulated for that."

CEO of Illawarra peak social services body Community Industry Group Nicky Sloan said beyond these nation-wide measures, there was little for those doing it tough.

"Yes we'd like to see inflation decrease, but what we really want to see the most is money going into the pocket of people who need it the most."

Illawarra families looking for cost of living help elsewhere in this budget - which explicitly targeted cost of living relief as households struggle to pay the bills - could find some comfort in energy bill relief of $300 per household and the rejigged stage 3 tax cuts.

RDA Illawarra Shoalhaven CEO Selena Stevens said the budget struck a balance between giving support to those who need it and not fuelling inflation.

"We know that there are those in our region doing it tough and this includes tangible cost of living relief."

But those on the lowest wages of JobSeeker or parenting payments will not see their benefits increased.

The other central plank of the budget is the government's return to domestic manufacturing and a future made in Australia.

But those hoping for a specific announcement about funding for projects in the Illawarra would be disappointed when flicking through the budget papers. Besides an extra $77 million for the Mount Ousley interchange there is no new money for a project specific to the Illawarra.

This stands in contrast to previous budgets that often doled out cash to infrastructure projects in each region.

Ms Stevens said this shift revealed the government's priorities.

"It's always going to be tough for government to pinpoint particular projects."

But after the Illawarra was snubbed in the first round of the Hydrogen Headstart program, an additional $1.3 billion for the program could see worthy projects in the region with one of the most advanced hydrogen ecosystems in the country succeeding in a future round.

Cunningham MP Alison Byrnes said the Illawarra had a good shot at benefiting from these programs.

"Stephen [Jones] and I will be working hard to ensure that the Illawarra makes the most of every opportunity for jobs and investment under the current and new initiatives."

The government has also committed to a $6.7 billion hydrogen production tax incentive, to boost commercial hydrogen projects, another area where the Illawarra could benefit.

South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris said these measures and others provided the "framework" for a future made in the Illawarra, but the meat of the sandwich was yet to be revealed.

"We need the detail of how our region plugs into those opportunities for the industries of the future."