Harris took three wickets in the afternoon session to finish with figures of 5/62, with the removal of Mahela Jayawardene for a brilliant 105 proving to be the catalyst for the victory charge after the hosts had frustrated Australia in the morning.
Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews had batted superbly to rescue Sri Lanka from 68/5, the pair adding 142 runs before the former edged a Harris delivery onto his stumps six overs after Australia had taken the new ball as soon as it became available.
The remaining four wickets fell cheaply and Mathews was dismissed an agonising five runs short of a maiden test century after he opted to attack the bowlers when he was running out of partners.
Resuming on 187/5 after lunch, Jayawardene reached his 29th century off 229 balls, spending five hours at the crease in Sri Lanka's forlorn chase of the 379-run winning target set by Australia on Friday.
Jayawardene is the first player to score a Test century in the fourth innings on a Galle pitch that historically favours spin bowlers while Australia's former captain Ricky Ponting became the first player to participate in 100 Test victories.
Mathews faced 238 balls to reach 95 when he was the ninth wicket to fall, bowled by Shane Watson, with the last pair adding four more runs before Nathan Lyon, who took five wickets in the first innings on debut, completing the victory as the hosts were dismissed for 253.
The match was a low-scoring affair with Australia managing scores of 273 and 210 in their two innings and Sri Lanka falling for just 105 in their first innings as Lyon ran through the batting order with figures of 5/34.
Rangana Herath was the pick of Sri Lanka's attack with match figures of 8/133 while Australia batsman Michael Hussey picked up the man-of-the-match award for his battling 95 on the opening day.
The second Test in the three-match series will start in Kandy on Thursday.
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