Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett says he knows the couple behind the latest accusations directed at the Hawks in the ongoing racism scandal and the support extended to them by the club - and gave a piece of advice.

Investigations into the club began after explosive allegations from three unnamed former Indigenous players and their families during the club's most recent premiership period broke in grand final week last year.

On Tuesday, a former player and their partner threatened legal action and accused the club of acting to "wipe their hands clean of us, and worse, to blame us for what happened to us" in a statement released by their lawyer Judy Courtin.

Kennett, who last year left Hawthorn in any official capacity, aired his grievance with the latest development on Wednesday.

"I'm just talking as a Hawthorn member, but I am sick and tired of this particular lawyer hiding behind the anonymity of her clients, defaming the football club and its staff," Kennett said, according to the Herald Sun.

"So much of what she has said in the statement is incorrect – and she has admitted that her clients have decided not to participate in the AFL investigation – because they simply don't trust it.

"That is their choice but they can't then expect, on the advice of their lawyer, to conduct a public campaign, defaming others, without being prepared to have their story tested."

A number of former Indigenous players are understood to have submitted evidence to the league's investigation and urged by the overseeing independent panel to keep the information confidential.

"In the statement (on Tuesday), the lawyer claims that they are considering civil action – I say to the family and the lawyer, if you are not prepared to be a part of the AFL investigation to establish the truth, then do as you are threatening to do and take it to the courts," Kennett said.

"The lawyer should clearly explain to her clients the scrutiny that going to the courts will provide, the risks and the costs associated with that.

"While some of the claims made may have merit – or may not – the only way to establish the truth is for those who make the claims to be a part of the AFL investigation or civil courts … But neither the AFL nor Hawthorn should – and hopefully they will not – give in to what I consider to effectively be a one-sided public blackmail campaign."

Kennett was part of the Hawks' board who commissioned a cultural safety review central to investigations at the club.

The findings of the AFL's investigation was due to be handed down by Christmas with no clear indication from the league on a new expected date.