The building will become the fourth international site to be tackled as part of the Scottish Ten project, which will eventually cover five Scottish world heritage sites and five in other parts of the world.
Sites recorded thus far have included the presidential heads at Mount Rushmore, and Rani Ki Vav, the Queen's Stepwell in India. The team are also preparing to scan the Eastern Qing Tombs, part of the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties World Heritage Site in Beijing, China.
The St Kilda ruins, the Heart of Neolithic Orkney and New Lanark's 18th Century mills, in Scotland, have already been scanned.
Edinburgh's Unesco World Heritage Site, which covers the Old Town and the New Town, is currently being scanned, and the Antonnine Wall is yet to be captured using the special technology.
The announcement to scan the Sydney Opera House was made by Scottish Culture Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, at the recent DigiDoc 2012 conference, an international digital documentation conference that explores all advanced forms of digital media and data, and their inter-relations.
Secretary Hyslop said: "This will be the most detailed digital recording of the Opera House ever attempted. It will present entirely new challenges for the Scottish Ten team who have already completed projects at vast and complex sites in the USA and India, and will soon visit China.
"This is by far the most modern building to be included in the Scottish Ten project and is a contrast to the castles, mills, tombs, Neolithic settlements, wells and sculptures that have come before it, but it will be a fascinating addition and will further push the team's skills and expertise."
The project brings together Historic Scotland and experts in 3D scanning from Glasgow School of Art's Digital Design Studio, as well as California-based digital heritage organisation CyArk.
The scans aim to provide visual access to the opera house and supply information for use in maintenance and conservation programmes.
Australian heritage minister Tony Burke said: "The Australian government is delighted that the World Heritage-listed Sydney Opera House is to be part of the Scottish Ten project. The Sydney Opera House is not just a symbol of Australia's cultural and artistic excellence, to many it is also a symbol of Australia itself."
