Revealed: Top ten most culturally powerful Australians – see who grabbed the top spot

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Tennis star Ash Barty has been named the most culturally powerful Australian in 2019.

The world’s number one player topped The Australian Financial Review Magazine’s list of the top 10 people who most defined the nation this year.

The magazine said the Indigenous 23-year-old’s sportsmanship, approachability and “one-for-all” attitude cemented her as a figure to look out for.

“Barty speaks to the strength of a sports star who behaves, on and off the field, in a way that manages to not only unite but inspire us,” the magazine’s editor Matthew Drummond said.

“Remember the joy we all felt when we realised she was going to win the French Open. Then you were blown away by her grace in winning, and then again when she lost at Wimbledon, the way she shrugged it off and said, ‘the sun’s still going to come up tomorrow’.”

Following in second place was Adam Goodes, whose AFL journey as depicted in documentaries The Final Quarter and The Australian Dream reignited a national conversation on Australian racism.

Tom Gleeson took the third place, with the magazine’s panellists noting the ABC host’s cheeky 2019 Logies campaign. In his Gold Logie award acceptance speech, he said his victory was a win for “taking the piss” and “not giving a shit”.

Placing fourth was Israel Folau, who was fired by Rugby Australia for sharing an Instagram post warning hell awaited “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolators”.

The 30-year-old had raised more than $700,000 to support his legal battle against the decision before crowdfunding site GoFundMe closed down his appeal due for breaching the terms of service. He collected $2 million in a subsequent campaign with the Australian Christian Lobby.

“This year especially we’ve had a lot of sports stars on the cultural power list which to me reflects not only Australia’s obsession with sport but the way in which sport is the field on which we talk about a lot of complex issues,” Drummond told 9News.

Rounding up the top 10 were National Gallery of Victoria director Tony Ellwood, cricketer Ellyse Perry, philanthropist Judith Neilson, actor Nicole Kidman, artist Ben Quilty and theatre star Kate Mulvany.

Scroll through the gallery to see the most culturally powerful Australians in 2019.