The centrepiece of this year's budget is a $14.6 billion cost of living package, but with inflation at record highs eating into the pay packets of workers and driving up the cost of essentials, much of the relief is targeted at specific segments of the population.
For the regular Illawarra family, this means some of the benefits will flow through to their household budget, and some won't.
Here's what's in the budget.
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, the median weekly household income for the Illawarra is $1684, spread across an average of 2.5 people.
On average, families with children are likely to have two - or 1.8 to be exact - and when all households in the Illawarra are included, the average household has one child.
One of the largest single measures in the government's cost of living package is a $3 billion energy relief package, with households receiving up to $500 if they fall below the income threshold.
This includes aged pensioners, the unemployed and other welfare recipients, as well as those receiving the family tax benefit, families earning below $108,892 with one child aged 0-12 or one child aged 13-15 or 16-19 who is a secondary student.
The median Illawarra family earns $109,668 per year - meaning it would miss out on this payment.
Those on lower incomes than the average Illawarra household will also receive subsidies to switch from gas to electric appliances.
Parents
More than 14,000 single parent families in the Illawarra may be eligible for increases to the single parent payment. The government will lift the cutoff from when the youngest child turns 8 to 14.
CEO of the peak body for Illawarra community groups Nicky Sloan said this change would be "life changing" for those who receive it.
"It recognises the importance of child-raising as a valuable role, and relieves the stress and worry many parents have felt about how to feed, clothe and equip their children for school."
The amount parents will receive will vary depending on how many children they have and their income, and single parent households with incomes above $2622.35 a fortnight will not receive any funds. The median Illawarra household would be above this level, however this includes all families, not those on single incomes.
Single parents will also no longer need to meet obligations under the ParentsNext program from July 1 next year.
Parents of younger children will benefit from the changes to the childcare subsidy which will come in from July this year.
The changes were part of the October 2022 mini-budget and lift the maximum child care subsidy rate from 85 to 90 per cent for families earning $80,000 per year and increase the threshold at which benefits cut off from $356,756 to $530,000.
Health
Changes to dispensing rules at pharmacies will allow Illawarra residents to buy two months worth of medicine for the price of a single prescription.
This change will come in from September 1 and will be available to concession-card holders.
Medicines covered include those for high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, depression and anxiety, osteoporosis, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease.
It will also reduce the number of times those needing these medicines will need to see a GP for a script, reducing out-of-pocket costs for those who see a non-bulk billing GP.
Pay rises
The hundreds of aged care workers in the Illawarra will receive a pay boost from July 1.
A 15 per cent pay increase will start to flow through to workers' pay packets from the next financial year.
However, some of those working in aged care facilities will miss out, with the pay rise not extended to staff such as cleaners and lifestyle support workers.
The nearly 15,000 people across the Illawarra electorates of Heathcote, Keira, Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama on JobSeeker will receive a $40 rise in their benefits, an inadequate increase, according to Ms Sloan.
"It really represents just $2.85 per day extra, clearly not enough to cover the increases in rent and food costs."
The JobSeeker increase will also apply to benefits such as Austudy and Youth Allowance.
Illawarra Women's Health Centre general manager Sally Stevenson said the increase was "disappointing" at a time when the budget was in surplus.
"Many people will remain in poverty and many women will still need to choose between poverty, homelessness and violence."
Renters
The 33,869 Illawarra renters will have a shot at relief from rapidly rising rent bills as the government is targeted additional relief for renters.
Nearly 13,000 households in the Illawarra are in rental stress, and are paying more than 30 per cent of their income on rent.
The government is also increasing Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 15 per cent, resulting in rental relief of around $31 a fortnight.
The Commonwealth's rent assistance package goes to those receiving benefits including the Age Pension, career payment, disability support pension, ABSTUDY living allowance, Austudy or Youth Allowance, Family Tax Benefit A above the base rate, parenting payment, JobSeeker and those receiving Special Benefit.
CEO of the Housing Trust Michele Adair said this and other housing measures in the budget did not go far enough.
"What they are relying on are the suite of measures that have been announce pre-election last year, however it's not enough."
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