Speaking 24 hours after McGuire apologised to Sydney Swans star Adam Goodes for his 'King Kong' gaffe, Demetriou said the AFL supported the Magpies' decision to retain him as president.
He said it was a stupid and unacceptable comment by McGuire, but was "absolutely comfortable with the decision taken by the Collingwood Football Club".
However, the AFL boss said after a week that had brought the issue to the forefront of the game, it was time to ramp up education.
"I think we've got the right process in place," Demetriou said in Brisbane on Thursday.
"It doesn't negate our position that we must do everything we can, be as vigilant as we can to educate as many people as we can about what's important about treating people with respect and treating people equally.
"We know we've got to up the ante on our education programs now and we've got to help raise awareness further.
"There will hopefully be some positives out of this in amongst the disappointment of the last few days.
"What we need to do is think about how we can educate people further, how we can raise awareness around these issues further."
Demetriou was at pains to say his first, second and third thoughts were with Adam Goodes after a week that has seen the dual Brownlow medallist in the news twice for separate vilifications.
He said Goodes accepting McGuire's apology was the first step in the process, but now the Magpies president must be further educated and will sit through a program put together by indigenous players and indigenous leaders.
Demetriou defended his initial claim on Wednesday that it was simply an "un-Eddie like comment," before calling it vilification later in the day.
"I attended an opening of a facility yesterday and just as I was arriving I had a briefing, it was a very small briefing, about what had happened on radio," he said.
"I answered as honestly as I could. I was then briefed on the matter extensively."
