Local Government Minister Barbara Perry has confirmed the length of their term under intense questioning during budget estimates in Parliament, saying the city was "not ready" for democracy.

Opposition and Greens MPs peppered Ms Perry with questions about their performance and again stoked the fire of the debate: how long should they stay?

Greens MLC Sylvia Hale told the hearing residents felt the administrators were not in town often enough and "rarely visit".

"From my talking to residents of Wollongong I know that they are deeply unhappy and feel that the community has in effect been excluded from the decision-making process down there," she said.

Ms Perry strongly rejected this and declined a request from Ms Hale to give details of the time the administrators spend in Wollongong, saying she does "not require that of each of the individual 1500 councillors in this state".

"I know that the administrators conduct face-to-face meetings; not only do they have people come in to see them but they actually go out to the community," Ms Perry said. "If you have a look at the council reports that are put out on the council website you will see that they are reflective of the work that has been done.

"When they are required to be there they are there, but it depends on the issues and the circumstances."

The previous councillors were not full-time employees. The amount of work they did outside official duties was up to them.

Each administrator's salary for the 2008-09 financial year was $83,200 - a total cost of $249,600 to the council. This compares to $370,000 for a mayor and 12 councillors.

Ms Perry also addressed the need to ensure a prohibition on binding caucus votes in relation to development applications, a corruption prevention recommendation of the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

She said Wollongong's new "code of conduct already sets out that binding caucus votes are inappropriate where merit-based decisions are required".

Ms Perry said she believed the administrators had good support in Wollongong and were still addressing matters raised by ICAC.

"It takes time to rebuild and it also takes time to address the cultural issues within an organisation," she said." Until I am told otherwise, the council will stay in administration until September 2012."