Apprenticeships and traineeships in retail butchery and smallgoods are a vital entry point into the meat industry – building job-ready skills, delivering real workplace experience, and supporting employers to grow the next generation of skilled workers.
Skills Insight and MINTRAC are undertaking this project to update the Certificate III qualifications for retail butchers and smallgoods operators, so they align with contemporary requirements of industry trades and qualification design. These qualifications are critical to apprenticeships and traineeships across retail butchery and smallgoods.
Click across the tabs to view active and completed project stages. Consultation takes place at every stage of the project.
Register for a Broad Consultation workshop
You’re invited to join one of our workshops during the Broad Consultation stage. Register to discuss draft materials and provide insights on current and emerging workforce needs.
In-person
Online
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Project scope and purpose
This project will review and potentially revise training package products for retail butchers and smallgoods apprenticeships to better reflect industry needs and training package requirements. Updates will be based on recommendations from workforce functional analysis and must be carried out in accordance with the 2025 Training Package Organising Framework (TPOF 2025) and relevant policy requirements.
This project is part of the third stage of a broader initiative to update the entire AMP Australian Meat Processing Training Package.
Documents for review include:
three qualifications
AMP30815 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Retail Butcher)
AMP30916 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Smallgoods – General)
AMP31016 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Smallgoods – Manufacture)
one skill set
sixty-six units
AMPR201 Break and cut product using a bandsaw
AMPR202 Provide advice on cooking and storage of meat products
AMPR203 Select, weigh and package meat for sale
AMPR204 Package products using manual packing and labelling equipment
AMPR205 Use basic methods of meat cookery
AMPR206 Vacuum pack products in a retail operation
AMPR208 Make and sell sausages
AMPR209 Produce and sell value-added products
AMPR211 Provide advice on meal solutions in a meat retail outlet
AMPR212 Clean meat retail work area
AMPR301 Prepare specialised cuts
AMPR302 Assess carcase or product quality
AMPR303 Calculate yield of carcase or product
AMPR306 Provide advice on nutritional role of meat
AMPR307 Merchandise products, services
AMPR308 Prepare, roll, sew and net meat
AMPR309 Bone and fillet poultry
AMPR310 Cost and price meat products
AMPR311 Prepare portion control to specifications
AMPR313 Order stock in a meat enterprise
AMPR314 Calculate and present statistical data in a meat enterprise
AMPR315 Utilise the Meat Standards Australia system to meet customer requirements
AMPR316 Cure, corn and sell product
AMPR317 Assess and sell poultry products
AMPR318 Break carcase for retail sale
AMPR319 Locate, identify and assess meat cuts
AMPR320 Assess and address customer preferences
AMPR322 Prepare and produce value added products
AMPR323 Break small stock carcases for retail sale
AMPR324 Break large stock carcases for retail sale
AMPR325 Prepare cooked meat product for retail sale
AMPS101 Handle materials and products
AMPS102 Pack smallgoods product
AMPS201 Package product using thermoform process
AMPS203 Operate bar and coder systems
AMPS205 Select, identify and prepare casings
AMPS206 Manually shape and form product
AMPS211 Prepare dry ingredients
AMPS213 Manually link and tie product
AMPS300 Operate mixer or blender unit
AMPS301 Cook, steam and cool product
AMPS309 Operate product forming machinery
AMPS310 Operate link and tie machinery
AMPS311 Operate complex slicing and packaging machinery
AMPS312 Prepare meat-based pates and terrines for commercial sale
AMPS313 Prepare product formulations
AMPS314 Ferment and mature product
AMPX201 Prepare and operate bandsaw
AMPX210 Prepare and slice meat cuts
AMPX211 Trim meat to specifications
AMPX214 Package meat and smallgoods product for retail sale
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
Stakeholder input is is central to this project. Opportunities to provide targeted feedback will occur:
- through workshops during the Workforce Functional Analysis process
- when the draft materials are made available for feedback as part of Broad Consultation
- to review and check final drafts as part of Consensus Gathering.
MINTRAC and Skills Insight have created a list of key stakeholder organisations to approach for involvement in the project. If you are aware of an organisation that should be included, please contact the project team.
Following Workforce Functional Analysis, a project Technical Committee will be assembled to support the development of the updated training package products. The Technical Committee will be guided by a Consultation Strategy and Technical Committee (TC) Terms of Reference which will be made available on this webpage once finalised.
Timeline
Project team
Mark Wadsworth
Stakeholder Engagement Manager/Project Manager
[email protected]
Michael Williams
Industry Skills Standards contractor
Workforce functional analysis (WFA) for the Retail Butchery and Smallgoods sectors has been completed and work is underway to revise the Certificate III qualifications, and related skill sets and units. Initial drafts will be available for broad review and comment in early September. Industry stakeholders including associations, unions, employers, workers, trainers and students are invited to provide input into the drafts, including insights about current and emerging workforce needs.
Register for a Broad Consultation workshop
You’re invited to join one of our workshops during the Broad Consultation stage. Register to discuss draft materials and provide insights on current and emerging workforce needs.
In-person
Online
Workforce functional analysis findings
The Workforce Functional Analysis report draws on national workforce and training data and extensive consultation across all states and the Northern Territory to provide the evidence base for training package product review and development. The analysis confirms a structural shortage of skilled, trade-qualified workers across retail butchery and smallgoods. While the three existing Certificate III qualifications provide a strong technical foundation, they no longer fully reflect industry practice. Key findings include: duplication across units, an excessive assessment burden, and capability gaps in areas such as customer communication, product knowledge, food safety, and business skills. The WFA report recommends a comprehensive redesign of all three qualifications and outlines conceptual frameworks for the development phase.
Technical Committee
A Technical Committee has been assembled to guide the project, including consideration of a Consultation Strategy and Terms of Reference. The first in-person Technical Committee meeting was held in Melbourne in August. This meeting focused on qualification structure and overlap, unit coverage, and potential impacts to support the drafting of revised training products.
Key areas for Technical Committee consideration include:
- streamlining and AQF alignment of AMP30815 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Retail Butcher)
- revision of assessment conditions to align with the format established through the previous Essential Meat Processing Skills Project
- review of unit coverage to ensure alignment with contemporary job tasks and industry requirements
- identification and consolidation of duplicated skills and knowledge
- opportunities to merge overlapping content where appropriate
- determining core versus elective placement of beef carcase breakdown unit.
Broad consultation is now open until 31 October 2026
Stakeholders can provide feedback on the drafts through our online Feedback Hub, via email or by joining a workshop. Feedback will determine whether the qualifications, skill sets and units of competency fit the current and future job tasks required by industry.
The Certificate III qualifications and related skill sets and units of competency have been revised to incorporate learnings from the Workforce Functional Analysis.
Register for a Broad Consultation workshop
Online
Summary of changes
The qualifications, skill sets and units have been revised to meet industry needs and the requirements of the Training Package Organising Framework 2025.
Units of competency have been reorganised around complete workplace functions rather than narrowly focused individual tasks. This has allowed a substantial number of overlapping units to be consolidated into broader functional competencies. For example, receival, storage, rotation and despatch have been drawn together into a single storage and handling unit, and hygiene, sanitation, QA and HACCP requirements have been consolidated into a single food safety and quality assurance unit.
All units and qualifications have been reviewed against the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), to ensure the correct AQF level indicator is reflected in the product code. This confirms that graduates meet industry expectations of a trade-qualified worker at AQF Level 3. Units that did not align with trade level have been repositioned for consideration at Certificate IV.
New units have been developed to address capability gaps around providing customer advice; producing value-added and ready-to-eat products; applying meat science and provenance knowledge; managing food safety systems; calculating costings, yields and margins, contributing to merchandising; monitoring output; brand integrity; stock management; and digital systems and automation.
View the drafts and provide feedback
Feedback questions to consider:
1) Does the application statement describe the job role and workplace context?
2) Do the units cover the work performance required to carry out the job function?
3) Are the evidence of performance and knowledge points appropriate to the job role?
4) Are the evidence of performance and knowledge points sufficient to assess that the candidate can perform the task in different contexts and is able to deal with contingencies?
5) Which parts of assessment must be carried out in the workplace and which parts can be simulated?
Click on the documents in the accordions below and submit feedback using our Feedback Hub. You can post comments directly on the draft documents as well as view comments from others. Your comments will remain anonymous. Read the full User Instructions. Only Skills Insight staff and contractors working directly on the project can identify users. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. The feedback hub is also moderated to avoid misuse.
If you prefer to email your feedback, you can download the documents in Word format and provide feedback by email to [email protected].
Qualifications with Major Changes
The current Retail Butchery qualification was developed on an embedded model with three different levels of unit outcomes to reflect stages in a three-year delivery program. This is contrary to TPOF2025 requirements and has necessitated substantial unit development for all three qualifications in the project, to ensure all qualifications correctly align to Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level 3 requirements.
AMP3X727 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Retail Butcher)
AMP3X827 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Smallgoods – General)
AMP3X927 Certificate III in Meat Processing (Smallgoods – Manufacture)
Impacted qualifications
As part of the updates to the Certificate III in Meat Processing (Retail Butcher), several electives will be updated in the Certificate II in Meat Retailing as part of this process. The degree of change will be determined during the project.
AMP2X227 Certificate II in Meat Retailing
You may also download the documents in Word format and provide feedback by email to [email protected].
Reviewed
AMPSSXXX04 Basic Meat Industry Skill Set
AMPSSXXX05 Produce UCFM Products Skill Set
Newly created
Developed in response to industry needs.
AMPSSXXX06 Meat costing for Retail Butchery Skill Set
You can also download the documents in Word format and provide feedback by email to [email protected].
These units have been updated to meet the requirements of the Training Package Organising Framework 2025 (TPOF2025). For a detailed breakdown of changes, please download the Summary of Changes document.
Draft units have undergone two types of updates: reviewed units and re-templated units.
Reviewed units
These draft units have undergone significant changes to better reflect industry needs and ensure that graduates hold the depth of knowledge and range of skills that industry expects of a trade-qualified worker at AQF Level 3.
Stakeholders are asked to consider the following questions when reviewing these units:
- Do the drafts accurately reflect the work actually performed by trade-qualified retail butchers and smallgoods makers in your workplace today?
- Do the drafts anticipate where the work is heading over the next five to ten years, including automation, digital systems, and traceability?
- Is anything essential to the occupational outcomes (especially trade-related outcomes) missing, or has anything been included that is no longer relevant?
Re-templated units
These draft units have been moved into the new TPOF2025 unit templates and require stakeholder input before additional changes are made.
Stakeholders are asked to consider the following questions when reviewing the units:
- Are the tasks described still current and applicable to the industry?
- Do the elements and performance criteria accurately describe the required work performance?
- Are the required skills and knowledge relevant to the tasks?
Units also under review in the Meat Processing Pathways Project
A selection of units in this project will replace units currently listed as qualifications in the Meat Processing Pathways Project.
You may also download the documents in Word format and provide feedback by email to [email protected].
An excerpt of the AMP Australian Meat Processing Training Package Companion Volume Implementation Guides (CVIG) is also available for review and comment.
Please review the Meat retailing and Smallgoods manufacturing sector descriptions to confirm whether they are still accurate, and the pathways diagrams for meat retailing and smallgoods, including whether they clearly show the entry points and career progression available in each sector.
Please note, some headings are highlighted for particular attention; however feedback is invited on any part of the CVIG that relates to the Training Package products covered by the project. Highlighted text can be found on pages 30, 32, 37, 38 and 39.
Complete the survey to inform us whether the units listed below should be retained or deleted.
| AMPR314 Calculate and present statistical data in a meat enterprise | No longer required by industry. |
| AMPR318 Break carcase for retail sale | No longer required by industry. |
| AMPS102 Pack smallgoods product | Outcomes covered in other units. |
| AMPS300 Operate mixer or blender unit | Outcomes covered in FBP Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical Training Package products. |
| AMPX303 Break carcase into primal cuts | Outcomes covered in FBP Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical Training Package products. |
Summary of consultation to date
The draft qualifications, skill sets and units have been developed in consultation with the Technical Committee consisting of retail butchers, smallgoods manufacturers, processors, registered training organisations and regulatory representatives.
The Technical Committee has considered feedback received through the Workforce Functional Analysis (WFA) workshops that were held between February and March 2026, across each state and territory, including three online workshops. Across workshops, site visits and stakeholder meetings, 28 consultation activities were undertaken, involving 60+ participants. People working in retail butchery and smallgoods manufacturing provided information on the skills and knowledge required for job roles and tasks. Their input informed the Qualification Purpose Matrix and the functional groupings that underpin the redeveloped qualifications.
Site visits allowed the project team to observe trade-level work across a range of butchery settings and confirmed the capabilities expected of a trade-qualified butcher and smallgoods maker. Targeted stakeholder meetings were also held to test specific aspects of the draft products with individual businesses, regulators and training providers.
This stage has not yet commenced.
As part of consensus gathering, 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 a review. 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:
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.
