They will play Malawi in their opening match at the tournament in Liverpool, England.
Last time the two sides met, Malawi won 57-53 in the pool stage of the Commonwealth Games.
The loss left the Silver Ferns in a three-way tie with Malawi and Uganda, although the Ferns progressed to the semifinals on goal percentage.
They went on to finish fourth, missing a medal for the first time.
To avenge that campaign next year, the side will have to win its way through a new competition format.
Barbados and Singapore will be its two other group opponents.
The top three from that pool will progress to a second round of group play, when they will join with the top three teams from group A.
Included in that group is Australia.
To make the semifinals the side must finish in the top two of that second group.
Silver Ferns coach Noeline Taurua welcomed the opportunity to play Malawi first-up.
"Malawi are a great team and playing them first-up means we have to be really well prepared and ready to go from day one," she said.
"We have to start the tournament as we mean to finish it.
"Having a top-quality opponent in our first game will set the tone and that means getting our campaign under way with a positive and decisive start.
"We'll need to be at the top of our game against them and that's what we're working towards."
The tournament begins on July 12 and the final is scheduled for July 21.
• Australia overcame some shaky patches in the first and last quarters to avenge their Commonwealth Games final loss to England with a 52-47 win on Wednesday, AAP reports.
Trailing 14-9 late in the first quarter of their Quad Series game in Newcastle, Australia outscored England 15-10 in each of the the two middle terms to take control of the match.
They had a seven-goal third quarter buffer slashed to two inside the last four minutes, but steadied down the stretch.
Australia is the only one of the four teams to win two out of two and would clinch the series with a win over New Zealand in the final round in Melbourne on Sunday.
