Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe says it's "unbelievable" Fitzroy Stars netball players were forced to reenact a racist incident before a tribunal.

The club, established in 1973 from the local Aboriginal community and still primarily represented by Indigenous members, fields men's and women's football teams as well as netball teams.

Last month, an opposition player allegedly directed repeated remarks using the phrase "you people" at a Stars player, followed by noises and movements imitating a monkey or ape. After the umpires referred the incident, an independent tribunal panel found the opposition player not guilty.

It is understood the Stars players who attended the hearing were placed in separate rooms, while the opposition player and a club representative faced the panel. When three Stars players gave their evidence, however, the opposition player and their club representative were present in the room.

The "young Aboriginal women" were also asked to reenact the incident, Senator Thorpe said.

Speaking in the Senate under Parliamentary privilege, she called the process horrific.

"It's unbelievable that Aboriginal players were made to reenact racism against them, just to be believed," she said.

"Our people should be able to step onto a court, play the game they love and know they will be treated with fairness and respect."

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Stars player Bec Pridham, who attended the hearing but did not give evidence, told ABC Radio last week after experiencing the "aggressive" conduct, which "blatantly imitated a monkey or ape," the opposition player and their club representative were able to "interrogate" her clubmates.

She claimed her teammates were not allowed a club representative in the room with them.

Fitzroy Stars president Aunty Esme Bamblett told National Indigenous Times that the league is appealing the tribunal decision and that the players were "traumatised" by the experience.

"They were really upset. And it's no wonder," Aunty Esme said. "Everybody knew that that person had done it, and she got off... That's the worst-case scenario. And then when you have to reenact it, see it, and they still let her off... It's upsetting and traumatising."

In a statement last week, the Northern Football Netball League (NFNL) said it was reviewing the "incident and the determination of the independent tribunal".

"This process may include hearing from all parties and relevant witnesses to the incident, as well as inquiring into their experience of the tribunal process to identify opportunities for improvement," the league said.

Senator Thorpe said the club had been central to her life, as it has been for many Indigenous families across Melbourne.

"I started playing with the stars when I was 10 years old and spent all my juniors there," she said. "My nan was a timekeeper at the club, and I've played on those very courts where this happened."

She told the Senate that community sport should bring people together, not replicate "the racism our people have been fighting for, for generations".

"We talk about racism [and] standing up against racism. When will racism end?" she asked.

Additional reporting by Jarred Cross