Independent Victorian senator John Madigan has won his bid to secure the release of secret documents relating to the Essendon injecting program.

While the Federal government and opposition successfully opposed his call for an independent inquiry into how the Bombers' case was handled by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, Madigan was able to secure the release of key documents in his motion in the Senate on Monday.

These documents include the final report of ASADA's investigation into the Bombers, dubbed Operation Cobia, the review of that operation by former Federal Court judge Garry Downs for former Sport Minister Peter Dutton, a separate review of ASADA for former Sport Minister Kate Ellis and the decision in March last year by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal to clear the players of doping allegations.

He had wanted the October 2013 investigators' report detailing the ASADA case against former Gold Coast footballer Nathan Bock, documents detailing the decision to not pursue Bock and any recent documents pertaining to ASADA claiming it would reopen the investigation should new information be presented.

"I am disappointed the ALP and the government continue to oppose a Senate inquiry into the Essendon drugs saga. Only an independent inquiry will answer the many questions fans of justice still carry with them," Madigan said.

"In terms of the motion to table documents relating to this issue, my single hope is that this action is not derailed by the Prime Minister calling a double dissolution. This would be a tragedy of political expediency over truth."

The documents must be released by the end of the week. It's understood the material will not be redacted.

Once Madigan analyses the documents, he will make a decision on what the next step is. He has continued to argue the 34 banned current and former Essendon players were not given procedural fairness during the protracted saga and did not deserve to be suspended for allegedly being administered the banned drug, thymosin beta 4.

Liberal senator Chris Ryan opposed the motion but Madigan had strong support from the floor.

"The documents Senator Madigan has asked to be tabled contain the sensitive personal information of those involved in the investigation as outlined in this motion," Ryan said.

"Many of these documents concern matters that have not yet been finalised and as such it would be highly inappropriate for them to be released at this point in time."

Greens leader Richard Di Natale and Perth-based senator Chris Back are likely to read the material.

Madigan previously failed in his bid to secure the documents, having originally sought this through the Senate Education and Employment References Committee. This time he put the motion through the Senate Community Affairs References Committee. This committee is responsible for scrutinising the minister of sport and her department.