The 30-year-old, who has taken 190 wickets in 47 tests, injured his left foot in the recent test victory against South Africa and subsequent scans revealed a piece of metal embedded under his big toe.
"Mitchell will travel to Melbourne this week to be reviewed by specialist doctors and will most likely need surgery, which is expected to keep him out of cricket for four to five months," team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said in a news release.
"The programme for his recovery will be assessed following any surgery."
Johnson, ICC Player of the Year in 2009, has endured a disappointing 12 months with the ball since being unceremoniously dropped for the second Ashes test against England last year.
He returned with a nine-wicket haul in the third Ashes test in Perth but has rarely threatened to reach such heights since, taking just three wickets at the cost of 255 runs in the two recent tests in South Africa.
The leftarmer was one of five players unavailable through injury for the first of two tests against New Zealand, which starts on Thursday at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Australia, who play India in a four-test series starting in late December, have included four uncapped players in their squad for the Gabba match, including three pace bowlers.
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