Meat Processing Pathways Project

Australia’s meat processing industry relies on a range of specialised roles to support food supply, safety and quality throughout the production process.

Certificate III qualifications provide a pathway into these roles, including through apprenticeships and traineeships, equipping learners with the practical skills needed to work across different parts of the industry.

Click across the tabs to view active and completed project stages. Consultation takes place at every stage of the project.

Project scope and purpose

This project will review and revise training package products related to the Certificate III meat processing qualifications to better reflect industry needs and training package requirements. Updates will be based on stakeholder consultation and carried out in accordance with the Training Package Organising Framework (TPOF) 2025 and relevant policy requirements.

In finding solutions to identified challenges, training products may be removed, merged, and/or deleted, and new ones developed to support current technologies or processes.

This project is part of the third stage of a broader initiative to update the entire AMP Australian Meat Processing Training Package. The Retail Butchery and Smallgoods Project is also underway, and draft documents for both projects will become available for feedback at the same time.

Training products for review include:

six qualifications

AMP30116 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Boning Room)

AMP30216 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Food Services)

AMP30421 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Rendering)

AMP30516 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Slaughtering)

AMP31116 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Livestock Handling)

AMP31216 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Packing Operations)

Five recently reviewed qualifications will require updates to reflect revisions to units as part of this project:

AMP30622 Certificate III in Meat Processing

AMP30322 Certificate III in Meat Safety Inspection

AMP20125 Certificate II in Meat Processing

AMP40222 Certificate IV in Meat Processing

AMP40522 Certificate IV in Meat Safety Inspection

four skill sets


AMPSS00014 Effective Stunning (Captive Bolt) Skill Set

AMPSS00015 Effective Stunning (Electrical Stunning) Skill Set

AMPSS00027 Humane Slaughter of Animals Skill Set

AMPSS00053 Produce UCFM Products Skill Set

seventy-five units


AMPA2177 Handle working dogs in stock yards

AMPA3000 Stun animal

AMPA3001 Stick and bleed animal

AMPA3004 Monitor the effective operations of electrical stimulation

AMPA3005 Rod weasand

AMPA3006 Seal weasand

AMPA3007 Ring bung

AMPA3008 Seal bung

AMPA3009 Split carcase

AMPA3010 Overview legging operation

AMPA3012 Make first leg opening cuts

AMPA3013 Make second leg opening cuts

AMPA3014 Perform legging on small stock

AMPA3015 Perform animal slaughter in accordance with Halal certification requirements

AMPA3020 Bone neck

AMPA3021 Perform ‘Y’ cut

AMPA3022 Skin head

AMPA3023 Explain opening cuts

AMPA3024 Perform flanking cuts

AMPA3025 Perform brisket cuts

AMPA3026 Perform rumping cuts

AMPA3027 Perform rosette cuts

AMPA3028 Perform midline cuts

AMPA3029 Scald and dehair carcase

AMPA3030 Operate pelt puller

AMPA3031 Operate hide puller

AMPA3032 Remove pelt manually

AMPA3033 Bed dress carcase

AMPA3034 Eviscerate animal carcase

AMPA3040 Operate brisket cutter or saw

AMPA3042 Backdown pig carcase

AMPA3044 Operate air knife

AMPA3045 Drop sock and pull shoulder pelt

AMPA3046 Undertake retain rail operations

AMPA3048 Bone small stock carcase – leg

AMPA3049 Slice and trim leg – small stock

AMPA3050 Bone large stock  carcase – forequarter

AMPA3051 Bone large stock carcase – hindquarter

AMPA3052 Slice and trim large stock forequarter

AMPA3053 Slice and trim large stock hindquarter

AMPA3054 Break carcase using a bandsaw

AMPA3062 Operate trunk boning machine

AMPA3063 Bone small stock carcase – shoulder

AMPA3064 Bone small stock carcase – middle

AMPA3065 Slice small stock carcase – shoulder

AMPA3066 Slice small stock carcase – middle

AMPA3068 Prepare and despatch meat products

AMPA3071 Implement food safety program

AMPA3086 Monitor boiler operations

AMPA3113 Prepare a kill sheet

AMPA3117 Oversee product loadout

AMPA3133 Manage NLIS data for pigs in lairage

AMPA3134 Overview of the NLIS Pork

AMPA3136 Monitor welfare of stock during out-of-hours receival

AMPA3137 Operate biogas facilities

AMPA3138 Identify secondary sexual characteristics – beef

AMPG303 Receive and inspect wild game carcases from the field

AMPG304 Receive and inspect wild game carcases at a processing plant

AMPG305 Store wild game carcases

AMPG307 Inspect wild game field depot

AMPP301 Operate a poultry carcase delivery system

AMPP302 Debone and fillet poultry product (manually)

AMPREN301 Operate and monitor a batch rendering process

AMPREN302 Operate and monitor a continuous dry rendering process

AMPREN303 Operate and monitor a low temperature wet rendering process

AMPREN304 Operate a tallow refining process

AMPREN305 Operate a blood coagulation and drying process

AMPREN306 Render edible products

AMPSMA201 Slice product using simple machinery

AMPX309 Identify and repair equipment faults

AMPX316 Monitor product to be sent to rendering

AMPX317 Monitor product flow in an automated process

AMPX410 Facilitate achievement of enterprise environmental policies and goals

AMPX418 Lead communication in the workplace

AMPX431 Oversee meat processing establishment’s Halal compliance

Companion Volume and Implementation Guides.


AMP release 8.1 Companion Volume V8.1 February 2025 part 1 of 2 (Implementation Guide)

AMP release 8.1 Companion Volume V8.1 February 2025 part 2 of 2 (Implementation Guide)

Consultation approach

Timeline

March – June 2026July 2026Project planningTechnical Committee formed Development of draft training package productsJuly – August 2026Draft 1 Broad Consultation September – October 2026January – February 2027Draft 2 Broad Consultation April – May  2027Consensus GatheringFinalisation and quality checksJune – October  2027October  2027Project submitted to Assurance BodyProject submitted to Skills Ministers (target)December  2027

This stage has not yet commenced.

During the development stage, key stakeholders, including subject matter experts, are engaged and consulted to gather further information and begin investigating potential solutions.

This stage has not yet commenced.

At the broad consultation stage, we present and discuss potential solutions, collecting feedback from a wide range of stakeholder across the country. It follows consultation with various stakeholders that has already taken place throughout the project.

This stage has not yet commenced.

At the Consensus Gathering stage, we check our work with stakeholders to confirm that solutions are in line with expectations.

This stage has not yet commenced.

At the finalisation stage, final checks are conducted and the outcomes of the project are submitted to the Department for consideration. Following this, outcomes are published or enacted.

Project background

The AMP Training Package underwent a series of small changes between 2015 – 2020 to meet specific industry needs. While carrying out this work, it became apparent that the entire training package required review. A full review was proposed and is now being completed in stages to minimise disruption to current apprenticeships and ongoing training and workforce development:

  • Stage one (completed in 2022) focused on the qualifications, skills sets and units that describe general safety, quality assurance and leadership skills for meat processing, which included some Certificate III and IV qualifications.
  • Stage two (completed in 2026) entailed review of Certificate II qualifications and related units and skill sets that support accredited training pathways for new entrants.
  • Stage three is being undertaken as two concurrent projects to allow for focused stakeholder engagement. Part A involves review of retail and smallgoods training package products. Part B (this project) entails the review meat processing training package products covering skills in boning, food services, slaughtering, livestock handling and packing.