Barbieri shot an excellent seven-under par 65 in windy conditions on Friday to move to 10 under after two rounds, giving him a four-stroke lead over joint first-round leader Brendan Jones.
Jack Munro and Cam John share third at five under.
Barbieri was the standout performer on Friday, producing the only bogey-free round of the day to rocket to the top of the leaderboard.
With eight top-three finishes, Barbieri has come close to a maiden title, including this season when he was runner-up to Andrew Martin at the NT PGA Championship.
Despite boasting a handy lead at the halfway point, the 28-year-old isn't getting ahead of himself.
"I try not to think about it too much," Barbieri said of achieving that first victory.
"I've been there a few times and it hasn't worked out as I'd like. I'm just learning the one-per-centres, the small sort of things, step by step."
There were gusts stronger than 60km/h on Friday, and Barbieri adapted brilliantly.
"I think the game plan goes out the window a bit. You just play what's in front of you," he said.
"You're hitting shots you're probably not hitting normally and just controlling your ball."
Jones, who grabbed outright second at the end of Friday thanks to an eagle on the par-5 18th hole, said the conditions were as tough as he'd faced in many years.
"This wind, it's fluky, it's gusty, but it's brutal. To get away with even par, I'm ecstatic," he said.
"Those couple of mistakes that I made today, if I get rid of those, then I feel that I'm going to be there at the end of the week."
Queenslander Aaron Wilkin produced the highlight of the day, nailing a hole-in-one on the 154m par-3 third.
Three-time WPGA Tour of Australasia winner Lydia Hall shot a three-over 75 on Friday, but it was still enough to put her in the lead at the halfway point of the $200,000 women's Vic Open.
Hall leads Australia's No.1 Ladies European Tour player in 2025, Kelsey Bennett, and Japan's Aina Morohashi by a shot with two rounds to play.
West Australian Kathryn Norris, Australian amateur representative Raegan Denton (SA), New Zealand's Hanee Song and American Annika Borrelli share fourth at two over.
"I have a lot of experience in winds like this and that's massively helped," Hall said.
"You have to miss in the right spots, avoid the downwind and downhill putts as much as you can."
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