Australian meat is highly regarded in both local and global markets for being top quality, wholesome and safe. The Australian Meat Processing (AMP) Training Package includes coverage of all the skilled job functions of the industry, including the essential foundation skills that are used daily. It is important the training package supports the workforce to learn skills and carry out work efficiently and safely. This will help Australian meat products live up to their strong reputation, operating to the current standards in food safety, quality control and compliance requirements.
Click across the tabs to view active and completed project stages. Consultation takes place at every stage of the project.
The AMP Training Package is undergoing a full review to meet both the Standards for Training Packages and the evolving needs of the industry. This project is the second stage of a broader project to review the entire AMP Training Package, and will focus on the essential skills in the Certificate II level qualifications, which support accredited training pathways for new entrants. The meat industry offers many rewarding career opportunities, with the potential to develop skills in biosecurity, sustainability, management and working with automated and robotic systems. It is important these qualifications reflect current industry and training delivery needs, including the role they can have in supporting the attraction and development of new learners.
This Skills Insight JSC project is being managed with the support of MINTRAC as part of their collaborative partnership with Skills Insight. MINTRAC has a strong history working with the Australian meat processing industry on skills and training solutions and have been engaged by Skills Insight to deliver this project in partnership.
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Project Scope and Purpose
This project will review the three Certificate II qualifications and units of competency, in particular reviewing the core units in these qualifications.
The following issues have already been identified during Stage 1 of the full review and apply to this second stage. Additional changes may be required based on stakeholder feedback received throughout the duration of this project.
Relevant Occupations
Essential meat processing skills are used by everyone in the meat industry. The skills to prepare quality meat products hygienically and safely are utilised throughout a successful career in the industry. The ability to trim, bone and slice, package and arrange products for supply and apply portion control in abattoirs, retail or food service environments are some of the essential skills to be obtained through the Certificate II qualifications. If you are a meat processing employer or employee, we would like to hear from you.
Timeline
Project Team
Rebecca Ford
Project Manager
Skills Insight
[email protected]
Mark Wadsworth
Stakeholder Engagement Manager/Project Manager
MINTRAC
[email protected]
Lucinda O’Brien
Portfolio Manager
Skills Insight
[email protected]
Jenni Oldfield
Industry Skills Standards Contractor
Skill Sets and Units of Competency to be Reviewed
Below is a list of the qualifications and units of competency that will be reviewed. We welcome any initial feedback you have which will help us in the review and development process. In particular, any feedback you have about the 47 units and 2 skill sets that have been flagged for deletion due to fewer than 20 enrolments in the period from 2019-22. We are seeking feedback from workers in the meat processing industry, to hear if those using the Certificate II qualifications have any comments about the need for the inclusion of these units so that all relevant information has been considered before updates are made.
Please email any feedback or comments to [email protected]
Opportunities for stakeholder input
Stakeholder input is appreciated throughout the duration of this project. The documents will be drafted in consultation with the Technical Committee and their networks. Opportunities to provide targeted feedback will occur when the draft materials are made available in May, and again to review and check final drafts in January – February 2025. However, your feedback is welcomed at any time, and will help us in drafting the qualifications, skill sets and units.
A list of key stakeholder organisations has been created for this project, which Skills Insight and MINTRAC will contact to seek involvement and views on the draft qualifications, skill sets and units. Consultation is not limited to the organisations on this list. This list simply helps us to identify those organisations that, because of their industry role, size or specialty, are likely to have a key interest in the development and outcomes of this project. If you are aware of an organisation that you think should be involved, please contact the project team.
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This project is part of the Annual Training Product Development Plan 2023-24.
Entrants to Australia’s meat processing industry require foundational skills to prepare quality meat products hygienically and safely. Work is underway to update the Certificate II level meat processing qualifications, which support accredited training pathways for new entrants. A Technical Committee has been established to provide advice throughout the project.
The Technical Committee had its first meeting on Wednesday 20 March with discussions focusing on enrolment data, job outcomes, foundation skills such as literacy and oral communication, and the Certificate II qualification core structure. The committee considered opportunities for new unit sectors, unit merges or deletions and if other units of competency could be suitable for inclusion in the AMP qualifications. They also discussed the possible merger of the Certificate II qualifications into a general entry level qualification that allows for pathways into a range of different job sectors.
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If you would like to receive updates about this project, please subscribe to our newsletter and select ‘meat processing’ as one of your industries of interest.
Development Outcomes and Next Steps
The draft qualifications and units of competency will be made available on this webpage for broad stakeholder consultation and feedback in mid-May 2024.
The project team are continuing conversations with the Technical Committee and other industry stakeholders to gather additional knowledge to support updates to the qualifications and units of competency. Some key updates to the units that have been discussed include:
Following discussion with the Technical Committee and feedback received from stakeholders, the initial list of units of competency proposed for deletion is being revised and reduced, whilst still ensuring any duplicated skills are consolidated. Units covering job tasks that are rarely used or which are specialised or niche are being retained and updated. One example is job tasks that are rarely used but are essential to biosecurity and other risks including the skills to respond to an outbreak of diseases, such as mad cow.
Your input is welcome, please feel free to register your interest to keep informed of project updates and when draft materials are available for feedback.
Register for a Consultation Workshop
In-person and online workshops are planned for June & July to coincide with the draft documents being made available for broad stakeholder feedback. These sessions will provide further information about the work underway and how you can have input on the updated draft qualifications, skill sets and units of competency.
Register for a session that best suits you.
*An additional online session has been added for Wednesday 31 July (see below).
In-person sessions
Online Sessions
Currently there are three Certificate II level meat processing qualifications that support accredited training pathways for new entrants. The project Technical Committee, including subject matter experts, have reviewed the qualifications and supporting units of competency and skill sets to determine how they can best support the attraction and development of new learners. The Technical Committee have provided advice on the content and supported a review process to produce revised drafts that better reflect current industry and training delivery needs.
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the draft qualifications, skill sets and units of competency that were available for feedback between 15 May – 19 August 2024.
Based on your comments it was determined that a selection of documents required further discussion before progressing to the ‘Consensus Gathering’ stage.
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If you would like to receive updates about this project, please subscribe to our newsletter and select ‘meat processing’ as one of your industries of interest.
The documents undergoing this additional review were available for feedback from 1 October to 10 November.
Feedback on teach out periods for the qualifications was also collected from Registered Training Organisations via an online survey.
The documents available during this period included:
- some units initially proposed for deletion that are now being retained and updated
- qualifications and units previously proposed for merging that are being retained to stand alone, including the Certificate II in Meat Retailing
- units included in the core of the draft qualifications
- additional units of competency to be housed in the meat retailing qualification
- three skill sets requiring additional updates
- poultry units, as the industry was impacted by avian flu during the previous consultation round
- any units that did not receive feedback during first round consultation.
The majority of units that make up this project are undergoing updates that did not require additional discussion at this stage. These units will be available again for comment in the Consensus Gathering stage, at which point you will have the opportunity to provide further input.
Two additional units added
Based on discussions during online workshops, two more units were added to this round of consultation.
Stakeholders supported the inclusion of AMPCLE2X04 Clean amenities and grounds in the Certificate II in Meat Processing to support important skills for keeping meat processing spaces hygienic.
Previous feedback on AMPA2060 Grade carcase indicated that carcass grading skills were not appropriate for use in the Certificate II of Meat Processing, so the unit was adjusted to AMPCRP2X20 Sort carcases to reflect the skills needed at this level. Feedback during the workshops indicated that there is still a need for grading skills to be captured in a higher level unit, so the draft unit AMPCRP3X02 Grade carcase was developed for inclusion in the Certificate III in Meat Processing.
Revised versions of the Certificate II and II in Meat Processing will be available again for review at the Consensus Gathering stage.
Online consultation workshops
Thank you to everyone who attended the online consultation workshops that were run as part of this round of consultation.
- Wed, Oct 2, 1-4 PM AEST (Meat retailing session)
- Tue, Oct 8, 2-5 PM AEDT (General session)
- Thu, Oct 10, 1-4 PM AEDT (General session)
Feedback Collected from 1 October – 10 November 2024
Click on the accordions below to view the qualification and units of competency.
Feedback Collected from 15 May – 19 August 2024
Summary of changes
Qualifications
The three Certificate II level meat processing qualifications were proposed to be merged together to become one qualification. The revised Certificate II in Meat Processing offers greater flexibility, with the ability to choose from a range of electives, without being restricted to one specialist area.
Units of Competency
One hundred and fifty-nine units of competency were reviewed, with new unit sectors proposed to help better identify the industry sector each unit affiliates with. Many units in the meat processing industry contain assessment components that must be completed in a workplace and cannot be achieved in a simulated environment. Feedback was encouraged on these Mandatory Workplace Requirements for each unit where it applies. Where possible, units covering similar skills and knowledge were merged or suggested to be replaced with other units to reduce duplication. This resulted in six units proposed for deletion. Some of these units duplicated the skills of another unit, with some others outlining skills that may no longer align with the current requirements of industry.
Skill Sets
Skills sets that contain some of the revised units and/or other units that were removed or updated as part of this project or other project work were also available for review.
For a detailed list of changes, please see the Summary of Changes document.
Consultation Workshops
In-person and online workshops were held in June and July to coincide with the draft documents being made available for broad stakeholder feedback. These sessions provided further information about the work underway and how stakeholders could have input on the updated draft qualifications, skill sets and units.
In-person sessions
Online Sessions
View the documents
Click on the accordions below to view the qualification and units of competency.
Summary of consultation to date
The draft qualification, skill sets and units were drafted in consultation with the Technical Committee and people working directly in meat processing who provided input on the skills and knowledge required for job roles and tasks. Units of competency that were initially proposed for deletion were available for feedback on this project webpage, under the Development tab, and have been reviewed with feedback requesting the majority be retained. Twelve site visits were undertaken to meat processing and meat retailing workplaces across Australia to observe these job roles in action.
During the initial Broad Consultation stage, feedback was collected via the Skills Insight Feedback Hub, email, and phone. In addition, we hosted eight face-to-face and three online workshops, which were attended by over 100 industry experts.
Thank you to those who have contributed to the project to date.
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.
This Skills Insight JSC project is being managed with the support of MINTRAC as part of their collaborative partnership with Skills Insight. MINTRAC has a strong history working with the Australian meat processing industry on skills and training solutions and have been engaged by Skills Insight to deliver this project in partnership.
Project background
Australia’s meat processing workforce is made up of an estimated 54,000 people, who contribute $3.5bn annually to the Australian economy. The AMP Training Package went through a series of small changes between2015 – 2020 to meet specific industry needs. While carrying out this work, it became apparent that the entire training package required a review to meet the updated priorities in the Training Package Development and Endorsement Process Policy and Training Package Standards.
A full review was proposed and is now being completed in several 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 of the Certificate III and IV qualifications. The next stage of this broader project will look at the remaining Certificate III qualifications and the accompanying units of competency and skill sets.
Some of the initiatives that are particularly important to the overall AMP Training Package review include:
We are taking an holistic approach to the review of the AMP Training Package to ensure that the training package products meet both the Standards for Training Packages and current industry needs.