The total value of retail sales in Australia climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent on month in August, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday - standing at A$25.128 billion.
The headline figure beat forecasts for an increase of 0.2 percent following the flat reading in July.
Moving higher were cafes restaurants and takeaway food services (0.7 percent), Food retailing (0.2 percent), Clothing, footwear and personal accessories retailing (0.5 percent) and Other retailing (0.2 percent).
Household good retailing (-0.3 percent) and Department stores (-0.7 percent) fell in August.
There were rises in Victoria (0.7 percent), New South Wales (0.5 percent), Queensland (0.7 percent), South Australia (0.4 percent) and the Australian Capital Territory (0.7 percent).
There were falls in Western Australia (-0.5 percent), Northern Territory (-0.5 percent) and Tasmania (-0.1 percent).
Also on Wednesday, the Australian Industry Group said that the service sector in Australia continued to contract in September, albeit at a slower pace, with a PMI score of 48.9.
That's up from 45.0 in August, although it remains beneath the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
Among the sub-indexes, sales and new orders expanded while employment, deliveries and stocks contracted.
Individually, recreation, health, communication and wholesale trade all expanded, while finance, property, retail and transportation were in contraction.
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