About  us

The Unanderra Community Centre is part of the Wollongong LGA. We provide activities and services for children, young people, families, Indigenous communities and residents of Unanderra and surrounding areas.

Our programs are funded through the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) Community and Family Support Program (CAFS). This core funding enables us to deliver early intervention services that support families and strengthen community wellbeing.

We receive financial contributions from community members, many of whom specify whether their donations should support food relief or program-related expenses. This helps us allocate resources transparently and effectively.

Please get in touch if you would like to make a donation

Volunteer with us

We are proud to be supported by local sponsors, including:

  • BlueScope Steel
  • Bunnings Warehouse
  • Illawarra Quota Club
  • West Illawarra
  • Bakers Delight
  • Woolworths Unanderra
  • Dandaloo hotel
  • Berkeley Cakes and Pies
  • Wollongong City Council

These partnerships provide both financial and in-kind support, helping us expand our reach and impact.

All enquiries

02 4271 2213
info@unanderraoc.org.au
144 Princes Highway Unanderra NSW 2526

Our Annual Report   2024 – 2025

View and download our Annual Report

Looking back

The Unanderra Community Hall was opened in 1901. It was the site of the Central Illawarra Municipal Council Chambers until the formation of the City of Greater Wollongong in 1947.

The Unanderra Branch Library opened in one room of the building in October 1955, and was extended in 1961. The building currently continues to house the public library and community centre.

Unanderra was originally called Charcoal or Charcoal Creek. From 7 April 1881 Charcoal Creek became Unanderra, an Aboriginal word meaning the “meeting place of creeks” or the “junction of the two creeks”. The two creeks were Charcoal and Allan’s Creeks. The original form of the name is thought to have been Unundurra or Un-dirra.

Local communities of Aboriginal people were the original inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of Illawarra Land. Their dialect is a variant of the Dharawal language.

The Dharawal historically inhabited the coastal region of New South Wales, from the southern shores of Botany Bay to the Shoalhaven River and extending inland to the Camden area. They are defined by their shared language and traditional hunter-fisher-gatherer way of life.

Traditional Custodians today are descendants of the original inhabitants and have ongoing spiritual and cultural ties to the Land and waterways where their ancestors lived.