Racism claims from former Hawthorn Indigenous players, their wives and an ex-staffer now appears headed to court after the Australian Human Rights Commission had decided to terminate the hearing with the club over an impasse between the parties.

The decision to end conciliation only came about after the four-person panel behind the Commission had witnessed mediation talks break down on Monday, neither of the parties had been willing to compromise nor were even close to agreeing to a deal.

Hawthorn Football Club had been unwilling to concede admissions of racist acts from 2008 until 2016 – during the period of the club's past four AFL premierships – that was raised in a 2022 cultural safety review that had been commissioned by the club.

The talks had also stalled, in part, towards the club's written response to accusations of racism that the Indigenous party flatly rejected on Monday after asking for an acknowledgment of their pain and suffering, in additional to a public apology.

There had already been 18 unresolved matters heading into a second hearing on Monday that both parties could not find common ground to settle following the first mediation more than a month earlier that involved former coach Alastair Clarkson and football manager Chris Fagan, and the club's ex-welfare manager Jason Burt.

The Indigenous parties led by Cyril Rioli, and involving teammates Jermaine Miller-Lewis and Carl Peterson, wives Shannyn Ah Sam-Rioli and Montanah Miller-Lewis, and ex-club Aboriginal liaison officer Leon Egan, have a further 60 days to file their case and take the matter to Federal court.

The parties through their respective lawyers did hold talks about an apology as a starting point that reportedly did not involve an explicit admission that racism was at the heart of the matters, but the Indigenous party were said to not be able to approve the terms of the apology.

The club's version of an apology did not recognise Hawthorn had tried to separate the First Nations players from their families and, in one specific case that has not named the persons involved, the coaching staff told one player that an unborn child at that stage of his career would "ruin our futures".

Rioli in a statement during the hearing said all six people that brought the case forward felt they "had lost control of their lives".

While the players, their partners and the official sought a form of financial compensation for their alleged mistreatment by the AFL club, no specific dollar figure was spoken about supposedly during the talks on Monday.

Hawthorn has always indicated the club's administration was willing to settle financially outside of the hearing without the matter reaching a court room.

Both parties could also still reach a deal instead of a hearing in a court, but a civil case would now allow a judge to publicly issue the amount and, on the basis of their claim, also demand an apology.

Hawthorn faced a difficult task to satisfy both the First Nations party's grievances and the club's former officials, who Clarkson, Fagan and Burt had always denied the claims and strongly bristled that they acted in a way that could be accused of being racist.

"As we have always said, we would like to see this matter resolved fairly and quickly for everyone involved," Hawthorn president Andy Gowers told Nine media.

"We have engaged with the AHRC process in good faith and have made multiple attempts to resolve the matter with all parties.

"It is unfortunate that this was not possible via this process, however, we remain committed to and will work towards having the matter resolved."