On June 14 2021 she was honored with the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to literature.
At age two was brought to Australia, her parents emigrating as refugees. Brett would reside in the Melbourne area until 1989 when she relocated to New York City.
Began her writing career at age 18 with the Australian pop music weekly ''Go-Set'': during her 1965-1968 ''Go-Set'' tenure she also hosted the pop music TV show Uptight (1967).