This Power Index list isn't about Australia's most recognisable journalists and editors. Or those with the most Walkleys. Or the biggest audiences. It's all about impact.

When deciding who to include on our religious power list, there was one question we kept asking to test someone’s influence: who’s putting religion into our lives?

It’s a topic Australians are hungry for: food. Dominating our dinner party chatter, popping up in social media all day long and infiltrating our televisions and magazines, eating (or talking about eating) has become our national pastime.

The Power Index has been examining who wields power in Australia for almost a year. Today, Paul Barry discusses how position, wealth, media clout and force of personality translate into influence.

Last year we set out to discover Who Really Runs Australia. And now we're ready to answer the question. But don't expect it to be simple.

The men and women at the top of the country's largest organisations can make decisions that affect an incredible number of people: employees, shareholders, customers and suppliers among them. They can also get the government of the day to pay attention. Here's our shortlist of the country's most powerful CEOs and Chairs.

Trade unions have never been so irrelevant to Australians, and yet union leaders have incredible clout when it comes to political and economic life.

The power of the federal government has grown enormously in recent years. Yet wielding it is harder than ever.

Wherever you sit on the scale between rabid culture vulture and unrefined philistine, chances are you've come across those who have made our Arts and Culture Top Ten.

These wealthy Australians don't just give to charity or donate to political parties; they use their cash to crusade for what they think is right. Sometimes, it's their self-interest, sometimes it's the public interest.