Role overview
A Seafood Packer is a factory process worker in the Australian seafood and food manufacturing sectors. The core function of the role is to prepare seafood products for distribution and sale by performing precise packaging operations. This involves handling various types of seafood, from fillets to whole fish and crustaceans, ensuring they are accurately weighed, securely wrapped, and correctly labelled according to health standards and company specifications. The occupation is vital for maintaining product quality, safety, and traceability within the supply chain. In Australia, this classification is used by government agencies, employers, and labour market analysts to categorise and understand this segment of the workforce.
Key tasks in practice
The daily responsibilities of a Seafood Packer are centred on the packaging line and include a range of manual and sometimes machine-assisted tasks.
- Using scales to measure precise weights of seafood portions to meet packaging requirements.
- Selecting and using appropriate packaging materials, such as trays, vacuum bags, or modified atmosphere packaging, to encase the product.
- Operating heat sealers or other equipment to securely close packages, ensuring they are airtight to preserve freshness and prevent contamination or leakage.
- Applying labels to packages that include crucial information like product type, weight, price, use-by date, and batch numbers for inventory tracking.
- Contributing to stock control by counting and recording output, helping to manage inventory levels of finished goods.
Skill level explanation
This occupation is assigned an OSCA skill level of 5. In the Australian labour context, this signifies that the role typically requires a skill level commensurate with on-the-job training and experience for a period of up to one year. A formal qualification is not usually a prerequisite for entry. The tasks are often routine and procedural, but they require diligence, an understanding of food safety protocols (like HACCP), and manual dexterity. The skill level helps differentiate this role from occupations requiring vocational education (Certificate levels I-IV) or higher tertiary qualifications.
Industry context
Seafood Packers are predominantly employed within the Seafood Processing industry (ANZSIC 7320). This includes facilities that process and package wild-caught or farmed fish, prawns, oysters, and other marine products. Employment opportunities also exist in related food manufacturing sectors, such as Meat and Meat Product Manufacturing (ANZSIC 1911) and Other Food Product Manufacturing (ANZSIC 3609), particularly in operations that handle multiple protein types. These roles are commonly found in processing plants located in coastal regions and major food manufacturing hubs across Australia.