Butcher or Smallgoods Maker

A butcher or smallgoods maker operates in a retail, wholesale, or manufacturing butchery environment, processing and preparing animal carcasses and meat cuts for sale or further processing. They perform skilled manual work including breaking down carcasses, trimming and boning meat, and in some roles, manufacturing cured and processed meat products such as sausages, ham, and smallgoods. The role requires knowledge of meat grades, cuts, food safety standards, and Safe Work Australia regulations.

Break down animal carcasses into wholesale cuts using knives, saws, and cleavers in accordance with animal welfare and food safety protocols. Trim, bone, and portion meat cuts to customer specifications and retail display standards. Prepare and display fresh meat products on retail counters, applying food safety and temperature control practices under the Food Standards Code. Operate cutting machinery including band saws, mincers, and portion control equipment, maintaining safety guards and performing routine cleaning and maintenance. Manufacture smallgoods products such as sausages, pâtés, and cured meats by mixing, filling, cooking, and packaging according to product recipes and food safety requirements. Monitor and record meat temperature, pH levels, and storage conditions to ensure compliance with food safety standards and HACCP principles. Source, receive, and store raw materials and curing agents, checking for quality defects and maintaining stock rotation and cold chain integrity. Apply food labelling requirements including weights, ingredients, allergen information, and use-by dates in compliance with Food Standards Code.

The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate IV or Certificate III with at least two years of on-the-job training (ABS skill level 3). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

Your hands, wrists, and shoulders will take a beating. Repetitive cutting, boning, and operating machinery causes serious strain injuries that can end careers early. You'll also work early starts (often 4 to 5am), cold wet conditions, and deal with blood and animal parts daily. Pay is modest with limited advancement without owning a shop.

Butcheries concentrate in metropolitan areas where population density supports independent butchers and larger processors. Regional towns have some work but fewer positions. Most jobs are in retail shops, abattoirs, or food manufacturing plants rather than remote work.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 3512, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Attention to Detailcore
• Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
• Customer Needs Assessmentcore
• Inventory Trackingcore
• Multitaskingcore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Quality Assurance and Checkingcore
• Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Stock Counting and Stocktakecore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Continuous Learning and Upskilling
• Goods Receipt Processing
• Incident Reporting
• Stock Reconciliation
• Supplier Communication
• Workload Self-Management

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

What Butcher or Smallgoods Maker workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026