Attorney General Nicola Roxon is frustrated a "small administrative error" could put in doubt three years' worth of Family Court property settlements and other orders handed down to de facto couples.
Since 2009 the Family Court has had the power to settle the property disputes of de facto couples, after state courts relinquished their powers to the federal government.
But when the shift occurred, the federal government neglected to arrange for the governor-general to proclaim a starting date for the laws.
Thousands of orders, including property settlements and maintenance agreements handed down since 2009 are now uncertain.
Ms Roxon labelled the incident an "unfortunate administrative error" but said the government was working to fix the issue.
"It's a very, clear example of where quite a small administrative error can have enormous consequences and we are now working very fast," she said.
The overwhelming majority of these matters involved consent orders.
"Of course in that situation you would expect that parties would continue to stick to the agreements. In fact we urge all parties to do that because this is a technical matter," she said.
Asked about bitter disputes where one partner pays maintenance to another and could claim there was no legal basis to continue, Ms Roxon said she discouraged people from stopping payments.
Chairman of the family law division of the Law Council of Australia Geoff Sinclair told The Australian that because 90 per cent of family orders were made by agreement, he hoped most people would not contest the orders.
He said he believed the number of cases affected would be in the thousands.
"We are looking to see whether there can be retrospective legislation to deal with those cases," he said.
Australian Greens senator Penny Wright said the government had no choice but to introduce legislation retrospectively.
"A quick resolution to remove any doubt about the validity of these cases is in the best interest of all parties and must be a priority," she said in a statement.
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