A SEMINAR highlighting the difference in pay rates between men and women in Australia will be held in Coffs Harbour later this month.

Business and Professional Women Coffs Harbour will stage the seminar based on the theme Unequal Pay= Unequal Retirement, at the Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium.

A BPW spokeswoman said the seminar was timely.

"The Gender Pay Gap for 2015 in Australia is 17.9%," she said.

"On Friday, September 4, working women in Australia finally earned as much as men had earned by June 30, 2015."

"That is, they will have worked 65 additional days from the start of the new financial year to earn the same amount."

In dollar terms, average weekly earnings for men is $1591.60 and women $1307.40, a difference of $284.20 per week.

The effects of the gender pay gap are many.

For 2015/16, BPW Coffs Harbour is focussing on the challenges faced by women having less income at the end of their lives, including access to adequate and affordable housing