There are 2142 Tasmanians awaiting approval for home care packages, according to quarterly data from the federal health department.
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Home Care Packages are designed to allow older people to live independently for as long as possible and are based on four levels of care that go beyond the Commonwealth Home Support Program.
In Northern Tasmania as of December 31, 2018, there were 575 people awaiting packages at their approved level, who had not been offered a lower level package.
However, with Australia's oldest population, Council on the Ageing Tasmania chief executive Sue Leitch said more packages were needed, with many older Tasmanians waiting more than 12 months before receiving the level of care they needed.
"Access to aged care should be a universal right, but at the moment it's not," she said. "Even people who have, according to all the assessments, shown that they are eligible are not able to access it.
"That means they have to wait, and either families have to step in, or if there isn't family nearby, then there's not a lot of choice for people. They just have to make do."
There were 10,000 aged care home support packages released nationally as part of the 2019-20 federal budget.
On Tuesday the federal government updated its home care fees and charges, as well as subsidies and supplements, due to take effect from July 1. This included a 1.4 per cent indexation rise for aged care providers.
The increase was labelled as "inadequate" by peak aged care body Aged and Community Services Australia, who said providers were dealing with increased demand and rising costs.
ACSA chief executive Patricia Sparrow said 45 per cent of Australian aged care facilities were operating at a loss - 67 per cent for outer regional, rural and remote services.
Ms Leitch said there were many fundamental issues that needed to be tackled around access to care.
"It's a bit more complex than just the amount of money that's available," she said.
"I can't talk on behalf of other aged care providers, but we do know we see a lot of people who are frustrated by the system, that are either waiting for care or been offered a lower level package but it's not meeting their needs."
The number of Tasmanians awaiting approval for home care packages represents 2.8 per cent of the national share.
Ms Leitch said COTA would be closely monitoring the home care national priority list to ensure the proportion of allocations reflected Tasmania's population base.