00:04On Albany's historic York Street, work is underway to restore a more than century-old church.
00:10A challenge that can only be undertaken by those with an understanding of traditional stone masonry.
00:16A very sound knowledge of material and technique is required.
00:20It's quite different from building new buildings.
00:23Skills now in high demand across the country.
00:27I don't think I'm going to be able to retire because my phone keeps ringing.
00:32The trade at risk of dying out, with younger generations choosing to take up more mainstream jobs.
00:39I'd like to see them with my skill set.
00:42There are more than 100,000 heritage listed buildings across the country,
00:47which historians say are a vital part of the nation's past.
00:51So you can look at buildings and see how people lived, what size buildings they were, what scale, their changes
00:58of use.
00:59Without an urgent uptake in heritage trades, history could be left to crumble.
01:04If they're looked after, they will survive, but if they're not, they will decay and deteriorate.
01:10More training needed to get young people into the field.
01:13You're looking at around 30 people in the state that have those skills currently.
01:19And we're working with the industry councils and the training bodies to do a review
01:24to actually look into bringing in training at a national level.
01:28Pieces of history relying on the next generation.
01:34Pieces of history
