The AFL Players' Association chief executive, Paul Marsh, has expressed his concern at the league's abrupt closure of the investigation into claims of racism at Hawthorn, labelling the months-long process "flawed".

On Tuesday outgoing AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan held a snap press conference to announce an agreement had been reached between the parties involved to end the probe.

McLachlan said "no adverse findings" were made against former Hawks coaching staff Alastair Clarkson, Chris Fagan and Jason Burt - the men central to allegations made by a group of Indigenous former players and their families.

The claims of misconduct against the former Hawks officials surfaced after an internal cultural safety review of the club was leaked to the media in September last year.

All three coaches have denied any wrongdoing.

Hawthorn are yet to be cleared, and could still face sanction from the AFL with an investigation of the club by the league due to begin.

The families are reportedly set to take the matter to the human rights commission.

McLachlan extended his sympathies to all affected throughout the lengthy process.

On Wednesday Mr Marsh said the Players' Association supports the players, families and representatives to make their own decisions, but said that in their view, the investigation process was flawed, lacked independence from the AFL, and lacked clarity for those taking part.

"As an industry, we have legal and moral duties to our players – past, present, and future – to ensure they are physically, mentally, and culturally safe and respected," Marsh said in a statement.

"The allegations raised by players and their families as part of Hawthorn's Binmada Report were extremely serious and disturbing in nature and required an independent, wide-ranging, well-resourced and culturally safe process.

"The AFLPA had serious concerns with the AFL's process from the outset. We raised those concerns with the AFL formally, and made our views known publicly.

"While acknowledging the complexity of this issue, in our view, the investigation process was flawed. The investigative process was not truly independent of the AFL, as the AFL retained, and ultimately exercised, their extensive rights and controls. There was also a lack of clarity for participants as to the process and potential remedies."

Marsh stated that the game must improve on responding to and preventing racism.

He said the Hawthorn investigation was yet another issue requiring a bout of self-reflection from the footy industry on whether the appropriate systems are in place "to ensure this does not happen again".

Marsh said a Human Rights Policy and Framework has been proposed to the league as part of the current collective bargaining agreement negotiations.

"Our approach seeks to enhance collaboration across our industry on the key issues impacting our people, including the protection of rights and access to remedy, to create an environment where everyone feels safe," he said.

"The AFLPA's Human Rights Steering Committee and Indigenous Advisory Board will play an active role in informing our ongoing work in these areas and we believe our industry has an opportunity to work more closely together to address these human rights issues for the betterment of the industry and our people moving forward.

"Until this work is done, we hold considerable fears that players and other members of our industry who suffer racism, sexism or other forms of exclusion or discrimination will be hesitant to raise concerns or share their experiences."

Earlier on Wednesday, Hawthorn president Andy Gowers said he would be "extremely disappointed" if the club was sanctioned by the league, and left the door open for launching their own case with the courts.

It's understood the look into Hawthorn would surround whether the club are guilty of misconduct and/or bringing the game into disrepute; factors McLachlan did not rule out on Tuesday evening.

"The intention (from Hawthorn) here was absolutely with the best interest of everybody involved," he said.

"That's really important to remember. So, what did we do? We reached out to former players and staff and we asked them the questions; how do you feel about your time here? That is a perfectly natural thing to do."

Gowers said he was unaware where the leak came from, and that the best course of action would have been for all parties to be listened to.

"There is obviously more to play out," he said.

"We look forward to an ongoing dialogue with all parties. We are open to all discussions."

He said the club was not "party to" the resolution as announced on Tuesday, and had not yet seen a report of the investigation panel's findings.

The Players' Association acknowledged the AFL's initiatives for going forward as part of the agreement announced.