But she is steadily carving a name for herself in the male-dominated profession.

The Jannali resident, 21, has been a butcher's apprentice for almost three years and believes more women are taking up the job.

"In my first apprentice job they just gave me till work and other basic jobs to do,'' she said.

"I don't think they really wanted me to do anything else and it's still not that common for women to do this.

"But since I moved jobs I've been doing everything and learnt so much.''

Proof of her prowess came when she was the first woman to enter a recent butchery competition in 25 years.

She finished as a silver medalist in her section, narrowly missing out the top honour, which went to a fully-qualified butcher.

"It was a bit like MasterChef in a way,'' she said. "It was quite intense and I was more focused on what I was doing than anything else ...''

"In the end I only lost out by half a point.''

Her boss at Lilli Pilli Gourmet Butchers, Mark Walsh, was very proud.

"She's a real star, excellent,'' he said.

"She's very talented and I'm glad I've got her here, to be honest.''

Ms Budden-Murphy would like to teach butchery in the future.