Meat Packer

A meat packer works in abattoirs, butcheries, or meat processing facilities, preparing and packaging meat products for retail or wholesale distribution. The role involves operating packaging machinery, applying labels and pricing, and ensuring products meet food safety and quality standards. Work is conducted in temperature-controlled environments and requires adherence to food hygiene regulations and Safe Work Australia standards.

Position meat cuts on conveyor belts or into packaging trays according to product specifications and portion weights. Operate vacuum-sealing and wrapping machinery to package meat products in film or trays. Apply product labels, date codes, and barcodes to packaged items using labelling machines or manual application. Weigh packaged meat products using digital scales to ensure compliance with labelled weight declarations. Inspect packaged products for defects, contamination, or improper sealing and remove non-conforming items. Load packaged meat into cartons or crates for storage or dispatch, arranging items to prevent damage. Clean and sanitise packaging equipment, work surfaces, and personal protective equipment in accordance with food safety protocols. Monitor temperature and humidity levels in cold storage areas to maintain product integrity.

The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate I or compulsory secondary education (ABS skill level 5). 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.

The work is physically repetitive and happens in cold rooms (0-4°C), which takes a real toll on your body after years. You'll deal with early starts, shift work including weekends, and the monotony can wear you down. Wages top out fairly quickly: there's limited progression unless you move into supervision. Automation may also reduce some packing roles over time.

Some work in metropolitan abattoirs and butcheries, but most volume is in regional processing plants where livestock is slaughtered and processed. Remote work doesn't exist in this role.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 8321, 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
• Check quality of products on the production linecore
• Clean food and beverage machinerycore
• Goods Receipt Processingcore
• Incident Reportingcore
• Inventory Trackingcore
• Multitaskingcore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Quality Assurance and Checkingcore
• Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
• Stock Counting and Stocktakecore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Carry out checks of production plant equipment
• Check quality of raw materials
• Health Terminology Literacy
• Process Improvement Identification
• Risk Identification
• Verbal 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 Meat Packer workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026