The report, Funding Local Roads, looked at the backlog of roadwork in each local government area in NSW and suggested ways in which extra funds could be found to fix potholes and other problems.

It said Wollongong had $80 million worth of overdue repairs, which was more than half the total backlog for the entire Illawarra and South Coast.

After Wollongong, the next worst LGA in the region was Wollondilly with a $29 million backlog and Shellharbour with $21 million of overdue repairs.

Wingecarribee Council would need $16 million to get its roads up to standard, while Shoalhaven Council needed $14 million.

Kiama had the smallest amount of work that needed to be done - just over $1 million. There were just seven other councils in the state with a lower figure than Kiama.

The report included all 152 councils in the state.

The councils with a greater road funding black hole than Wollongong were; Port Macquarie Hastings ($225 million), Clarence Valley on the North Coast ($224 million), Greater Taree ($152 million), Ku-ring-gai ($120 million), Lake Macquarie ($93 million) and Greater Hume in the south-west of NSW ($86 million).

The NRMA's Illawarra director Marisa Mastroianni said the organisation wasn't laying the blame for the $80 million shortfall at the feet of Wollongong City Council.

"This isn't us being critical of Wollongong at all - or any of the councils for not allocating sufficient funds," Ms Mastroianni said.

"It's about them not receiving sufficient funds, that's really the key message. Councils are really struggling to keep up with it and councils need to be supported in getting additional funds granted to them."

The Funding Local Roads report said the road funding received from state and federal governments in recent years had been "inadequate".

"This systemic under-investment has given rise to concerns over safety standards across the regional road network," the report said.

The report made several recommendations on ways to address the backlog, which totalled $3.2 billion across the state. This included tripling the recurrent state and federal road grants for a 10-year period and giving regional councils a greater share of the fuel excise levy.

It said out of the 38.9¢ per litre collected in excise, only 14¢ is returned to the road network.

"The NRMA ... would like to see a permanent legislated figure," the report said.

"For example 50 per cent of fuel excise collected is returned to the road network as a minimum.