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Occupations / Primary Products Inspectors

Primary Products Inspectors

Primary Products Inspectors inspect animals, plants and agricultural produce and facilities to ensure compliance with government and industry standards with respect to quality, health and licensing.

Agriculture & environmentLicensed workANZSCO 3113
$1,330/wkMedian full-time pay
4,356People employed
+5% ▲Growth to 2035
86%Work full time
46Median age
Source: ABS · JSA, 2025-26ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), February 2026; ABS Employee Earnings and Hours May 2025; JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. ANZSCO 3113.More about our sources: How we check our facts

What they do

The main tasks of this occupation, from the national occupation standard.

inspecting animals, plants and agricultural produce to identify product quality issues, and providing advice to producersauditing and monitoring quality procedures at farms and food handling and processing facilities to ensure compliance with required standardstesting samples of produce for quality, size and purityensuring that required standards of hygiene are observed at storage, processing and packing facilities and in transport vehiclesadvising primary producers on economic aspects of disease eradication and informing producers and the general public of the health implications of diseases and impuritiesadvising on the identification of pests and diseases and on regulations pertaining to grading, packing and loading of products
Source: JSA occupation profileTask list from the Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profile for ANZSCO 3113 (ANZSCO task statements).More about our sources: How we check our facts

The outlook

Room for 200 more people in primary products inspectors by 2035 ▲

The field shrank 1.1% in the year to February 2026. Most of the jobs are in NSW and VIC, with QLD third.

Source: JSA · ABS, 2025-26ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), February 2026; ABS Employee Earnings and Hours May 2025; JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. ANZSCO 3113.More about our sources: How we check our facts
3.9k2025
3.9k2030 PROJ.
4.1k2035 PROJ.

Getting in

There is no single way in. 40% trained through VET, 36% hold a degree.

Both paths are common in this field. These are the nationally recognised courses mapped to this occupation, with the number of registered training providers that offer each one.

Source: JSA · training.gov.auEducation split: JSA (Jobs and Skills Australia) occupation profile, using ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Census data, ANZSCO 3113. Qualification mapping and provider counts: training.gov.au, the national register of vocational education, October 2026. Listed providers are current registered training providers (private providers and TAFE institutes).More about our sources: How we check our facts

Nationally recognised training · most offered first

AMP30322Certificate III

Certificate III in Meat Safety Inspection

Australian Meat Processing Training Package · licensed work.

See 6 providers
AMP40522Certificate IV

Certificate IV in Meat Safety Inspection

Australian Meat Processing Training Package · licensed work.

See 6 providers
SFI30419Certificate III

Certificate III in Fisheries Compliance

Seafood Industry · licensed work.

See 1 provider

Licensed work: several of these courses lead to work that also needs a state or territory licence. Training is the first step; licensing rules are set by each state.

See all 5 mapped courses
AMP30322Certificate III in Meat Safety Inspection · 6 providers
AMP40522Certificate IV in Meat Safety Inspection · 6 providers
SFI30419Certificate III in Fisheries Compliance · 1 provider
SFI40319Certificate IV in Fisheries Compliance · 1 provider
SFI50219Diploma of Fisheries Compliance · 1 provider

Providers are shown in A-Z order on each course page. A listing is not a recommendation.

Jobs open right now

4,356 Australians do this work. See who is hiring this month.

Search job ads by state

Each link opens seek.com.au in a new tab, showing ads posted in the last month. SEEK is a job site; we link there because that is where most Australian jobs are advertised. We have no commercial relationship with SEEK.

Source: ABS · JSA, 2025-26State chart shows people employed, not current job ads. ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force via Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), February 2026; ABS Employee Earnings and Hours May 2025; JSA Employment Projections, May 2025 base. ANZSCO 3113.More about our sources: How we check our facts

People employed by state, 2025-26

NSW1k
VIC0.9k
QLD0.9k
WA0.7k
SA0.2k
ACT0.2k
TAS0.2k
NT0.1k

Occupations near this one

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