Families and businesses in Wollongong will be able to speak face-to-face with Council from their living room or office, thanks to a new online community engagement project to be delivered via the Rudd Governments National Broadband Network.

Wollongong City Council will receive $374,342 in Rudd Government funding to deliver this initiative, with Council contributing around $774,000.

Minister for Regional Communications, Sharon Bird, today announced the project which is funded as part of the Rudd Governments Digital Local Government program.

This means residents can interact with Wollongong Councils customer services from one of seven local libraries, as well as their home or business via videoconferencing, Ms Bird said.

All of this is only possible with high speed broadband delivered by the NBN, which is already showing that it has the capacity to revolutionise the way local governments provide services.

Ultimately, this means better, more accessible and more convenient services, delivered more efficiently and with less hassle.

Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery OAM threw his support behind the program.

This project will deliver a range of enhanced online services and will enable community members to interact more easily with Councils customer service staff saving time and money for both the Council and our customers, Mr Bradbery said.

Member for Throsby Stephen Jones said the NBN is helping to put residents and ratepayers at the heart of local government service delivery

High-definition videoconferencing over the NBN is a great way to enhance frontline support delivered by councils to their communities, Mr Jones said.

This works both for general customer service and for services that require significant consultation, such as pre-development assessment applications.

For more details on the Digital Local Government program visit www.dbcde.gov.au/digitallocalgov