The fishing has improved quite a bit in the Illawarra since the water has started to warm up over the past couple of weeks.
I fish mostly fish the beaches between Wollongong City Beach and Thirroul Beach. Any beach that has a decent gutter within casting distance is worth a shot. I also fish soft plastics/lures and have managed to get a few decent flathead over the past week or so. I have found that it is best to keep mobile rather than park up in one spot. I often check out a couple beaches to find the most promising looking gutter, throw on a backpack with a few spare SPs, jigheads, Vibes/Blades, and metal lures, and walk along the gutter (casting a half-a-dozen or so times then moving 5-10m) until the gutter tapers out or moves out of casting distance from the beach. If I don't have any luck on one SP I will change to a different colour or style and move back along the gutter. Beside the rocks at each end of a beach is also worth a shot, there is usually a rip/gutter running beside the rocks where the water will be deeper. You will lose more lures to snags, but can be quite productive areas.
I can vouch for the Slick Rigs with Sfactor, landed me this flathead (see photo) 2nd cast a couple of days ago. ?
Cheers