Over 1,000 Victoria Police officers have been on the job for up to eight years despite being wrongly sworn in.

Chief Commissioner Shane Patton says that an administrative error between July 2014 and August of last year saw deputy commissioners appointed acting assistant commissioners without the required delegation.

Acting assistant commissioners need to be appointed by the chief commissioner, or by a deputy commissioner with the authority delegated to them before they can swear in graduates.

A recent review of the period found that 1,076 police officers were wrongly sworn in by acting assistant commissioners, as well as a further 157 protective service officers and 29 police custody officers.

Victoria Police is now rushing to swear in the affected officers, while the Victorian government drafts legislation to fix the error.

Police Minister Lisa Neville says the problem will be rectified retrospectively with the new legislation.

“My priority and the priority of the government is now to fix this issue, to do so with retrospective legislation, to get it through as quickly as possible,” Ms Neville said.

She said the officers in question had acted in good faith, and they remain important members of Victoria Police.

The state’s Police Association says it has been informed of the “unintended and highly technical administrative error that has led to issues over the legitimacy of the sworn status of around 1200 of our members”.

“We understand that Victoria Police will move decisively and quickly to remedy this situation so that our members can get back to doing what they do best, looking after the community,” the statement said.

“We will support the members impacted in any way we can and ensure that their legal and industrial rights are protected, as this issue is rectified.”

The force is seeking legal advice on the implications of the hundreds of officers carrying out duties without the valid power to do so.

The Director of Public Prosecutions and the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) has been notified.