Kuerten sealed the world No. 1 slot in the last match of last season, when he beat Andre Agassi to take the Masters Cup in Lisbon.
In the women's singles, world No. 1 Martina Hingis heads the field of 16 seeds for the Open, which begins in Melbourne on Jan. 15.
The seedings committee for this year's Australian Open have followed the ranking positions in both men's and women's singles.
Sweden's world No. 8 Thomas Enqvist, Spaniard Alex Corretja, ranked 9, and Australian Mark Philippoussis, listed at No. 11 in the world, will miss the tournament due to injury.
In the women's event, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Nathalie Tauziat, Julie Halard-Decugis and Anke Huber are all players listed in the world's top 16 who will not play.
Marat Safin has been named second seed in the men's singles, but the Russian's participation is in doubt because of an elbow injury.
If he withdraws from the Open, Germany's Tommy Haas will be installed as the 17th seed.