CourtSA Enforcement Application — How to Lodge Enforcement Online in South Australia

What CourtSA Handles

CourtSA (courtsa.courts.sa.gov.au) is the Magistrates Court of South Australia's online portal for civil case management. The enforcement applications covered here — Investigation Summons, Examination Summons, Garnishee Orders, Warrants of Sale and Charging Orders — are lodged through CourtSA.

Before You Start

You need:

• A CourtSA account linked to your case
• Your Case Reference Number
• The sealed judgment (confirming the debtor owes you money)
• A Memorandum of Interest (if claiming post-judgment interest at 6% per annum)
• A Memorandum of Costs (if claiming enforcement-related expenses)
• A VISA or Mastercard debit/credit card for payment — BPoint is the payment processor, and AMEX, cash and cheques are not accepted

If you are claiming interest, calculate the daily accrual from the date judgment was entered. The formula is: outstanding judgment debt excluding post-judgment interest × 0.06 ÷ 365 = daily interest. Add it up to the filing date.

Filing an Enforcement Application

1. Log in to CourtSA and go to "My Cases"
2. Select the relevant case and click "View Case"
3. Open the Enforcement tab
4. Click Actions and choose the enforcement type:
   • "Request or Add an Investigation Summons" for Form 143
   • "Request or Add an Examination Summons" for Form 146
   • The corresponding option for a Warrant of Sale (Form 141) or Garnishee Order
5. Complete the online form — attach your Memorandum of Interest and Memorandum of Costs
6. For corporate debtors: nominate a specific corporate officer as the witness
7. Submit and pay the filing fee plus Sheriff service fee (where applicable)

The registry reviews your submission. If approved, CourtSA generates a court-sealed PDF and (for summonses) dispatches it to the Sheriff's Office for personal service.

Common Rejection Reasons

CourtSA applications get rejected when:

• The wrong enforcement mechanism is selected (e.g., filing an Examination Summons when no prior court payment order has been breached)
• The Memorandum of Interest or Memorandum of Costs is missing
• Interest calculations contain arithmetic errors
• The debtor's correct current address is not provided
• For corporate debtors, no corporate officer is nominated

If rejected, you receive an email notification with the reason. The filing fee may be refunded; if a refund is granted, it is returned to the same card and can take 4–7 business days. Fix the issue and refile.

After Filing

Once the summons is served:

• Unless the parties have executed a consent order for payment, the debtor must complete Form 145 (Questionnaire) and bring it to an Investigation Summons hearing
• You receive a hearing date via CourtSA notification
• You (or a representative) attend to question the debtor about their finances

Remote attendance via Webex or telephone is available — apply through CourtSA before the listing date, particularly for regional matters.

What CourtSA Cannot Do

CourtSA handles filing mechanics — which buttons to click, which forms to upload. What it does not provide is strategic guidance: which enforcement tool to choose based on the debtor's assets, whether a garnishee order or warrant of sale is more likely to succeed, or how to evaluate the risk of spending Sheriff fees on an insolvent debtor.

Our SA Judgment Enforcement Guide fills that gap with a decision matrix, fee-risk audit and step-by-step workflows for each enforcement tool.

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