Hopes boosted for public housing help in the Illawarra after $10bn housing fund agreed

"I just flicked Max's office a text and said I need to talk to you and they were on the phone to me straight away," she said of influential Greens' housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather.

Mr Chandler-Mather and Greens leader Adam Bandt said the party agreed to support the legislation after securing an extra $1 billion for public housing this year.

Read more: No slowdown in industrial land demand as Illawarra supply dries up

And Ms Adair, who wasn't prepared the have draft legislation watered down during the months-long negotiations, was pleased the waiting game paid dividends.

"Until the legislation guaranteed the minimum of $500 million a year, we had potentially nothing," she said on the afternoon of September 11.

"The additional $1 billion is exclusively for social housing, which again is wonderful news because that is really where the absolute priority is.

"It's for the people that have nowhere to go other than the streets," Ms Adair said.

While a breakdown of where that extra money will be allocated has yet to be determined, Ms Adair now believes collaboration between levels of government will help to at last address the housing crisis genuinely.

She made particular mention of Planning Minister, Wollongong MP Paul Scully, as well as Housing Minister Rose Jackson.

"The planning reforms that Minister Scully has announced along with the expectations from Minister Jackson that NSW will be looking at 30 per cent social and affordable housing at a minimum on government land means there may be some opportunities for enabling critical housing supply and investment within the next 12 to 18 months," she said.

Southern Youth and Family Services (SYFS) CEO Narelle Clay said it was "really exciting" that the fund was set to pass parliament.

Read more: City Diggers would be demolished for a hotel under new plan

"That is really positive news, the delay has been terrible for people who need extra housing, so we're thrilled if that's going to move through the Senate and pass," Ms Clay said.

There was a need for much more social and affordable housing, she said, and the housing crisis could not be addressed via the private market.

Ms Clay said the HAFF was one avenue for extra resources, funding and housing stock, but it was just the beginning in terms of meeting the need.

It was essential, she said, to keep looking for ways to address the housing crisis and keep increasing housing stock moving forward.

SYFS opened 20 new one- and two-bedroom units in Warilla in July and they are already full.

"I could build 20 more every month going forward and fill them immediately," Ms Clay said.

Mandy Booker, Wollongong Homeless Hub and Housing Services' CEO, said the fund would go some way to fixing a "broken" system.

"We really welcome the crossbench support in getting the HAFF through," Ms Booker said.

The fund would not make a great deal of difference immediately, she said, but longer term it provided hope that people would get off a 10-year waiting list for social housing.

Ms Booker said she most welcomed the capital funds that would go into new housing stock, so houses built would be "fit for the current environment and going into future generations".

She said she hoped money would go to the areas most in need as soon as possible.