I got my dashboard re-skinned by a place in Melbourne (Ringwood) quite a few years ago and it came up like new. But I think he has closed down now. Esentially they fill and smooth any cracks and then vacuum form a heavy grained vinyl over the old dash.

The only place that comes to mind that's still operational in Melbourne is the Dashboard Doctor in Coburg. Try link below, it should show an example of a dash they have re-skinned.

http://dashboarddoctor.com.au/reskin7.html