CHRIS Fagan's return as Brisbane coach is imminent, with a board meeting on Tuesday night set to reinstate him at the helm, Lions CEO Greg Swann says.

Fagan took a leave of absence last month following a Hawthorn review into its treatment of Indigenous players during his time at the club from 2008 to 2016, and subsequent reporting of those allegations by the ABC. 

A four-person independent investigation into the allegations is now underway and is set to be concluded by December 22.

Speaking on Monday afternoon, Swann said Fagan's return would be "sooner rather than later".

"Now that there's a panel been put in place and the terms of reference are there, then we don't think there's an impediment for Chris to come back and get back to work," Swann said.

"He'll still obviously comply with the panel, but it's not too far away. We'll discuss that tomorrow night."

While it was Fagan who decided to take the leave of absence, Swann said it was a joint decision between the coach and club that he would return.

"Initially that happened because of the seriousness of the charges and just to take a bit of the heat out of it, but now there's a bit more clarity around what's happening, he can come back jointly with us," he said.

"For those that know him, we struggle to compute he would be involved in any of that stuff.

"As it's gone on, he's gone through those peaks where he's been disappointed, then he's been angry, now he's looking forward to getting back to work then clearing his name."