Advocacy Campaigns

The National Trust is actively working to grow the network of traditional tradespeople and heritage custodians who use them in Victoria. There is limited knowledge in the community about conservation processes and their necessity for providing good conservation outcomes. There is also a critical need to address the ongoing issue of a diminishing pool of skilled conservation practitioners, as well as limited avenues and opportunities for practitioners to share their knowledge and develop skills in the traditional trades and conservation practices. If these two issues are not addressed there will not be the conservation skills required to sustain cultural heritage values in Australia into the future.

Although discussions about heritage in the context of climate change tend to focus on the risks that climate change poses to our heritage places, heritage, and in particular heritage conservation, is an inherently sustainable practice and there is significant potential for the adaptive reuse of heritage or historic buildings to mitigate the impacts of climate change. It is now well established that investment in materials and the embodied energy of existing buildings generally emits less emissions than demolition and new construction, and the conservation of cultural landscapes protects trees and plants that sequester carbon and provide crucial habitats to support biodiversity. Through delivery of our Climate Action Plan the National Trust is promoting the link between heritage and sustainability to provide solutions to the climate crisis and lead by example.

The protection, conservation and celebration of diverse heritage values supports connection to place, ongoing access to green and public open spaces, and cultural expressions that create our way of life. It is becoming increasingly understood that heritage contributes to social wellbeing, cohesion, and community buy-in. Embracing the many threads that colour our society’s rich tapestry of cultural heritage enables us to grow our respect, knowledge and passions. Demonstrating how heritage contributes to health, wellbeing and thriving communities is at the very core of our mission "to champion Victoria’s diverse heritage, embrace the complexity of the past, and inspire connections to place for the benefit of current and future generations."

Levels of heritage significance, such as International, national, state, and local are not necessarily hierarchical. For the community who it is significant to, a place identified to be of “local” heritage significance may be more important to their identity and cultural expression than a place of “state” significance. Pressures like rapid urbanisation and unsustainable economic development are seeing an increasing disregard for the level of protection a local Heritage Overlay should provide and there is spread of misinformation incorrectly portraying heritage controls as anti-development.  

We are working to champion local heritage and its importance by supporting local government and heritage custodians to identify, protect, manage and celebrate their local heritage. We achieve this through various projects and programs, such as the Victorian Heritage Restoration Fund.