SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian retail sales rebounded by more than expected in August after a soft July as unusually warm weather brought forward spring spending, a possible sign consumers are dipping into extra income from recent sizable tax cuts.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Tuesday showed retail sales rose 0.7% in August from July, when they edged up 0.1%. Analysts had looked for a rise of 0.4%.

Sales were up 3.1% from a year earlier at A$36.5 billion ($25.3 billion), a still subdued result given Australia's population is climbing by 2.3% annually.

($1 = 1.4449 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Tom Hogue)