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Wollongong is a steel city where health care is now the biggest employer

  • BlueScope Port Kembla: ~3,000 direct, ~10,000 Illawarra jobs
  • Health care now 19% of the workforce — the largest sector
  • iAccelerate: 600+ ventures, $145m+ raised since 2016
  • 2030 jobs target hit 4 years early
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How Wollongong’s tech scene grew

Steel, still real, and a health sector and startup ecosystem that grew up alongside it.

iAccelerate begins tracking its startup record

The University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus hosts the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials and the iAccelerate startup incubator, which has since supported more than 600 ventures, helped create over 1,200 jobs, and backed founders raising more than $145 million in capital.

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Three economies in one region

BlueScope’s Port Kembla steelworks employs around 3,000 people directly and supports approximately 10,000 Illawarra jobs through contractors and suppliers, generating more than $2 billion a year in local steel sales — steel remains a genuinely large part of the regional economy, not a relic of it. But it is no longer the largest employer: health care and social assistance now holds that position.

The University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus adds a third layer — the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials and the iAccelerate incubator, which has supported more than 600 ventures and backed founders raising more than $145 million since 2016. The region’s Gross Regional Product stands at $17.6 billion, having added 10,612 net new local jobs since 2017–18 — hitting its 2030 jobs target four years early.

Where the work happens

A steelworks and a startup incubator, both genuinely large for a region this size.

BlueScope, Port Kembla

Around 3,000 direct staff, supporting approximately 10,000 Illawarra jobs, generating more than $2 billion a year in local steel sales.

iAccelerate, University of Wollongong

More than 600 ventures supported, over 1,200 jobs created, and $145 million-plus raised by founders since 2016.

How Wollongong businesses buy digital work

iAccelerate’s track record means Wollongong has real, recent experience building digital-first businesses from nothing — a useful local benchmark for what a credible online presence looks like, well beyond the region’s steel-town reputation.

Trades and home services

Name the Illawarra suburbs you cover. A genuinely diversified regional economy.

Health and medical services

Now the region’s largest employment sector. Online booking and published prices are the baseline.

Industrial and steel supply

A large, real B2B market around BlueScope and its supplier network.

Startups and technical services

A region with genuine, proven startup infrastructure behind it — expectations are set accordingly.

The full piece

Wollongong: a steel city where health care is now the biggest employer

Digital market analysis•2 min read

Steel, still real

Wollongong's local government area had a population of 221,894 as of 2024. BlueScope's Port Kembla steelworks employs around 3,000 people directly and supports approximately 10,000 Illawarra jobs through contractors and suppliers, generating more than $2 billion a year in local steel sales — steel remains a genuinely large part of the regional economy, not a relic of it.

But no longer the largest employer

Health care and social assistance is now the single largest employing industry in the Illawarra, at 19% of the workforce — 21,650 people — ahead of education (12,977) and retail (11,461), a clear shift in the region's economic centre of gravity even with steel still substantial.

A genuine startup track record

The University of Wollongong's Innovation Campus hosts the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials and the iAccelerate startup incubator, which has supported more than 600 ventures, helped create over 1,200 jobs, and backed founders raising more than $145 million in capital since 2016. The region's Gross Regional Product stands at $17.6 billion, having added 10,612 net new local jobs since 2017–18 — hitting its 2030 jobs target four years early.

The buyer

An industrial workforce alongside a fast-growing health sector and a genuinely proven local startup ecosystem — three distinct economies operating in one region.

The practical read

iAccelerate's track record means Wollongong has real, recent experience building digital-first businesses from nothing — a useful local benchmark for what a credible online presence looks like, well beyond the region's steel-town reputation.

Sources

Caveats and sourcing

  • Verifiable — the population figure, BlueScope's employment and revenue figures, the healthcare employment-share figures, and iAccelerate's stated track record.

How well do you know Wollongong’s digital economy?

Wollongong quiz · 1 of 5

What is now the Illawarra’s largest employment sector?

Why FastSites works here

A region with a proven local startup ecosystem understands what a credible digital-first business actually looks like — and expects the same from any website representing one.

Live in days, published price, built mobile-first. Tell us which of Wollongong’s three economies you serve.

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