[2] Before Port Kembla was an industrial suburb of Wollongong, it was a town with a remarkably self-sufficient society, a growing commercial centre, and a vibrant civic life.

[4] That year, 1947, marked the climax of a local campaign for municipal autonomy which was ultimately thwarted by the creation of a Greater City of Wollongong.

In the post-Second World War period there was an inexorable decline of a 'Port Kembla' society as local town boundaries were slowly but surely absorbed into a more Wollongong-focused or regional identity.

[6] With its long migration history accommodating waves of migrant workers and their families, Port Kembla is still one of the most culturally diverse suburbs in New South Wales.

Hill 60, originally the site of an Aboriginal settlement, was used by the army during World War II to make a coastal gun emplacement known as Illowra Battery.

The entrance to the tunnels is located almost under the coastguard tower on Hill 60, and can be seen down the left when standing at the information board, facing southeast.

[10] Port Kembla was the site of the Dalfram Dispute in 1938, where unionised dockworkers refused to load pig iron onto a ship heading for Japan after the Nanking Massacre.

In 1974, a green ban was placed by the Builders Labourers Federation against high rise development and for the reclamation of the beach to be made a parkland.

The campaign won a historic court case under the Anti-Discrimination Act and set a precedent for the employment of women in non-traditional areas of work and the interpretation of direct and indirect discrimination.

Port Kembla harbour is a major export location for coal mined in the southern and western regions of New South Wales.

[14] Patrick Corporation holds a contract for integrated port services in the harbour and transports goods by road or rail through its parent company Pacific National.

An award winning beach,[18] seasonally patrolled from September to April[19] and home to the Port Kembla Surf Life Saving Club.

Port Kembla Primary School was once located adjacent to it but was closed down due to pollution problems from the chimney including lead contaminated soil, acid rain and soot.

At nearby Kembla Grange the average concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) measured by the NSW Department of Environment Climate Change halved between 2002 and 2014.

One 1998 study of the industrial areas of Newcastle and Port Kembla found 'an important association between relatively low levels of particulate air pollution and respiratory symptoms' among primary school children.

[29] Fallout has also introduced elevated levels of lead and other heavy metals to the soil around Port Kembla and has formed thick deposits in many buildings and industrial structures.