Poultry Process Worker

A poultry process worker performs repetitive manual tasks in a poultry processing facility, handling raw and processed poultry products along production lines. They operate machinery, package products, and maintain hygiene standards according to food safety regulations. The role requires sustained physical effort in a cold environment and close adherence to workplace safety and food handling protocols.

Operate automated or semi-automated poultry processing machinery such as defeathering units, evisceration equipment, or portioning machines. Cut, trim, or portion poultry carcasses using knives, saws, and handheld cutting tools following product specifications. Remove offal, organs, and inedible parts from poultry carcasses on the production line. Inspect processed poultry products for quality defects, contamination, or damage and remove non-conforming items. Pack poultry products into containers, trays, or packaging materials according to weight, portion size, and labelling requirements. Apply product labels and batch codes to packaged items and monitor expiry date accuracy. Clean and sanitise production line equipment, work surfaces, and tools using approved cleaning agents and procedures to comply with food safety standards. Weigh processed products to verify compliance with specified weights and report deviations to supervisors.

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 demanding in a cold, wet environment all shift long, which takes a real toll on your joints, back and hands over time. Pay is modest and unlikely to rise much without moving into supervision. The repetition can be mentally grinding, and you're on your feet constantly handling sharp tools and machinery with zero room for lapses in concentration.

The work is facility-based with no remote option. You need to live near a processing plant, which limits where you can work.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 8313, 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.

• Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
• Administer ingredients in food productioncore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
• Clean food and beverage machinerycore
• Incident Reportingcore
• Multitaskingcore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Quality Assurance and Checkingcore
• Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Workload Self-Managementcore
• Act reliably
• Active Listening
• Adhere to organisational guidelines
• Carry out checks of production plant equipment
• Continuous Learning and Upskilling
• Health Terminology Literacy
• Inventory Tracking
• Process Improvement Identification
• Stock Counting and Stocktake
• Verbal Communication

• 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 Poultry Process Worker move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026