Government agencies have been put on notice for their compliance with the Official Information Act after a report from the Chief Ombudsman.

Dame Beverly Wakem yesterday reported on her review of the Act and found cycle of distrust and suspicion within government departments and agencies, mixed messages given by Ministers, and some evidence of Ministerial staff trying to limit OIA responses.

However Wakem insisted these issues were mostly caused by training problems rather than an attempt to hide information.

State Services Minister Paula Bennett said extra oversight is fine, and blamed the sheer amount of requests for the criticisms in Wakem's report.

"I don't mind some scrutiny, it's good for us," Bennett said. "It keeps us real and makes sure we're responding as we should be."

"I think there's been a huge increase and that does take up a huge resource and often when people are trying to look for a conspiracy, it's often about capacity issues."

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, however, insists there needs to be change.

"Anyone who's tried to use the Official Information Act knows that you're being met with a barrage of obstruction and obtuse behaviour and lengthy delays that are not justified," he said.

The report says 79 percent of government agencies don't require senior managers to undertake any level of OIA training.

Sixty percent of those who responded to the investigation said they had not received any OIA training over the last four years.

The report says this means agencies are vulnerable to unintended bad habits embedding into practice.