Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett has called for AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan to shut-down the investigation into alleged racism at the club.

Since news of the racism allegations by three Indigenous former Hawthorn players broke in September, an investigation conducted by a league-appointed independent panel has drawn out over months.

The delay has sparked criticism from all directions, including the former coaches, pundits and significant figures.

Central to accusations are current North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson, current Brisbane coach Chris Fagan, and former Hawthorn footy manager Jason Burt.

All three have denied any wrongdoing.

Both Clarkson and Fagan have stated they have not been given an opportunity to speak to the investigators.

On Thursday Kennett, via the Herald Sun, said the situation had become a "disaster".

He said there is "no way the AFL, the Hawthorn Football Club or any individual should at this stage be paying any compensation to anyone" until all parties had told their side of the story in court.

"The panel has failed. It is going nowhere. To my dear friends Richard Goyder (AFL Commission chair) and Gill McLachlan, I say close it down. Close it down now," Kennett said.

"The inquiry was never going to work because it didn't have the powers of a court. It wasn't a royal commission, it wasn't a judicial inquiry.

"It has turned out to be an absolute disaster for those who have made the complaints and for those who have been accused."

Kennett told the Herald Sun and 3AW that the matter breaking via an ABC article is a significant hindrance for fair process.

He took aim at lead investigator Bernard Quinn KC for his 'leak' of details concerning the probe on this week.

"The comments yesterday (Wednesday) by the chairman were as bad as the leaking of the report we commissioned at Hawthorn to hear the stories from our past Indigenous players that was leaked, and that immediately put an end to due process being carried out," Kennett said on 3AW.

"And the presentation of the chairman's letter to one journalist…has gone out inappropriately, but more importantly - within what he said, he's admitting he's failed.

"Eight months down the track this has become an unfair process, as it always was going to be. It has become a lawyer's picnic and there is no solution."

Last week, the Herald Sun reported a set of 18 demands were placed in front of Clarkson and Fagan as parameters for mediation with parties involved in the saga.

Fagan denied receiving the demands.

Kennett said the demand stood in the way of mediation "without any proof of the accusations against them (Clarkson and Fagan)".

In his own swipe Clarkson called Hawthorn's governance and conduct amid the probe "shameful in a press conference on Thursday.

"Just do an investigation on them and their practices and see how they go," Clarkson said.

Now a "concerned Hawthorn member", Kennett served as Hawks president between 2005-2011, and again between 2017-2022.

His tenures overlap with the period understood to be when the alleged events for investigation occurred, and when the accusations, and internal club investigations which sparked them, eventually dropped.

In a heated exchange with 3AW hosts Jimmy Bartel and Sam McClure, Kennett was pressed on whether he had read (Phil Egan's) internal report before the saga broke.

Kennett said he could not remember, but it was "just before or just after".

"When we got that report we were absolutely gobsmacked," Kennett said.

"Don't tell me that we set up this storytelling exercise because we knew of what was going to be found..I had no idea."

Kennett said Clarkson's comments on the Hawks were "totally out of court" and that the club had done "everything we can to protect our players".

"I am terribly proud of Hawthorn….our workplace is a safe workplace," the former Victorian premier said.

"I have nothing but absolute confidence that is the reason why we undertook that storytelling, and how we've conducted ourselves since, has been absolutely at the highest level.

Kennett later claimed any 'aggressive' means of coaching by Clarkson was directed equally through entire playing group in defence of the former head coach, among Fagan and Burt.

"He's not only aggressive, in this case, to Indigenous players, I've seen him be aggressive to non-Indigenous players.

"Don't tell me Alastair Clarkson is racist. Don't tell me the other two are racist. They're not…in any way.

"Alastair, like I've said, is a bit like a volcano. He can go off from time to time, but it won't have been done based on an issue of race.

"The only way he's going to be able to resolve that now (Clarkson protecting his reputation) is for those who are making the complaints to take it to a court of law."

Kennett said he did not know the details of the claims against Clarkson.