Collingwood have appointed Indigenous professor Larissa Behrendt to head the club's "independent review" of the environment at the Magpies during Heritier Lumumba's time at the club.

Behrendt, a prominent academic and writer, will head the review. Its findings will be delivered to the club's integrity committee, comprised of chief executive Mark Anderson and directors Peter Murphy and Jodie Sizer.

The Pies announced the review last month following Lumumba's reairing of claims that he was racially vilified during his career at Collingwood – which ran from 2005 to 2014 – and that the Pies did not do enough to deal with his complaints at the time or since.

"It has become increasingly clear that in Heritier's time we were unable to understand his experience; see and hear what he saw and heard. This lack of cultural safety that he and others have recently spoken of is a matter of great concern," Murphy said.

"We are seeking to understand these experiences of racism and to ensure they have no place in the current Collingwood environment.

"We anticipate that Larissa Behrendt's work will result in a full and frank account of these experiences and produce a road-map to inform Collingwood's future."