Barnett scored the first Grammy Award nomination of her career on Monday.
The indie rocker will join fellow Australians Keith Urban, West Australian psychedelic rock band Tame Impala and Melbourne future-soul quartet Hiatus Kaiyote at the 58th Grammy Awards ceremony in downtown Los Angeles on February 15.
related reading
Ono in Beatles family reunion at Grammys
Barnett's Grammy nomination in the elite Best New Artist category came as some of the biggest names in the business, Madonna, Rihanna and Justin Bieber, were snubbed.
"Who is Courtney Barnett?" the Los Angeles Times asked soon after the nominations were announced.
The other Best New Artist nominees are Meghan Trainor, Tori Kelly, Sam Hunt and James Bay, with Barnett likely squeezing out rapper Fetty Wap for the fifth slot.
Past winners of Best New Artist include The Beatles, Crosby Stills & Nash, Cyndi Lauper, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Sam Smith and, in 1983, fellow Australians Men at Work.
Barnett might be the minnow of the category and a surprise nominee, but the Recording Academy voters have a history of handing the lesser known nominee the Best New Artist Grammy.
It happened in 2012 when indie folk band Bon Iver beat Nicki Minaj and The Band Perry, and in 2011 when jazz singer/bassist Esperanza Spalding upset Florence and the Machine, Drake and Bieber.
Urban, just days after his father and early music inspiration Robert's death, was nominated for best country solo performance for John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16.
related reading
Grammy controversy for Sia, Iggy?
Urban is nominated alongside Cam (Burning House), Chris Stapleton (Traveller), Carrie Underwood (Little Toy Guns) and Lee Ann Womack (Chances Are).
Tame Impala is up for Best Alternative Music Album for Currents, with other nominees including Bjork's Vulnicra, Alabama Shakes' Sound & Color and Wilco's Star Wars.
Hiatus Kaiyote is nominated in the Best R&B Performance category for Breathing Underwater, with The Weeknd (Earned It) and Tamar Braxton (If I Don't Have You) also in the running.
Overall, American hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar led the nomination ceremony, with 11 nods, followed by Taylor Swift and The Weeknd, with seven each.
related reading
Sam Smith bags four Grammys as Australians miss out
For Record Of The Year, Ed Sheeran (Thinking Out Loud) is up against Taylor Swift (Blank Space), D'Angelo And The Vanguard (Really Love), Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars (Uptown Funk) and The Weeknd (Can't Feel My Face).
In the Album Of The Year category Taylor Swift (1989), Alabama Shakes (Sound & Color), Kendrick Lamar (To Pimp A Butterfly), Chris Stapleton (Traveller) and The Weeknd (Beauty Behind The Madness) are the nominees.
