Cyril Rioli is leading the charge against Hawthorn at the Human Rights Commission, alongside his wife Shannyn Ahsam-Rioli and former Hawks players Carl Peterson, Jermaine Miller-Lewis and Leon Egan and their families.
The group published an open letter addressing the ongoing Hawthorn racism saga, and their experiences during their time at the club.
The statement comes as the conclusion of the independent investigation into the club, in which the AFL made no findings.
Read the statement below
Open letter from Carl Peterson, Cyril Rioli, Shannyn Ahsam-Rioli, Jermaine and Montanah Miller-Lewis and Leon Egan
Dated: 2 June 2023
We are some of the Indigenous families who endured racism at the Hawthorn Football Club.
We were separated from our families.
We were told an unborn child would ruin our futures.
We were treated as special projects and control of our lives was taken from us. We told our truths in confidence, because we believed that it would bring change. And because we needed to heal and move on.
That confidence was betrayed.
We never asked for money.
All we ever wanted was to sit with the coaches and officials we looked up to, and who had such control over our lives and our futures, and make them understand what we heard.
What impact it had on our lives.
And to listen to them tell us their own truths - even why they thought they were helping us.
And we are gutted that these so-called AFL role models weren't prepared to listen to our truths through mediation. We have always had the courage to listen to their truths too. That is our way.
We were never scared of being named. We were never scared of what they would throw at us. We were worried about impacts on others. It doesn't change our truth.
None of us deserved this public sh--show - including them.
But they have made their choice, and we will now bring them to a Human Rights Commission conciliation to listen to the truths that they don't want to hear. And if they still won't listen and learn then it will end up in the Federal Court where we will tell our truths in the witness box. But they will hear us one way or another.
We also believe that with the passing of time that the Hawthorn Football Club will acknowledge that our suffering and pain was real.
We reached an agreement with the AFL not out of fear, but strength, because the AFL finally apologised to all First Nations players for racism in football.
They acknowledged our pain and hurt when we were at Hawthorn.
They made a legally binding promise to us to combat racism in football.
And the game will be safer for all First Nations families because of it.
These blokes who changed the course of our lives have never been exonerated by the AFL. The Panel never made any findings because it was shut down.
We previously allowed these people to use their power to control our lives. It should never happen again.