CourtSA: How to File a Defence on an Existing Case

The CourtSA portal is how most people file their defence in South Australia's Magistrates Court — but it's built for lawyers and repeat users, not for someone who's been served with court papers for the first time. The interface uses jargon, the case-linking step catches people off guard, and a rejected upload can blow your deadline. Here's how to get through it.

Create Your Account

Go to courts.sa.gov.au and register for a CourtSA account if you don't already have one. You'll need a working email address that you check regularly — the court sends hearing notices, filing confirmations, and rejection notices to this address.

Each person needs their own account. Shared logins are prohibited — the system ties your login to a digital signature on every document you file.

Link to Your Existing Case

This is the step most people miss. You can't just log in and start filing — you need to request access to the specific case first.

1. Find the action number on your claim papers. It looks like AMC-26-XXXX.
2. In CourtSA, submit a Case Access Request using that number.
3. Wait for Court Services to approve the request. Approval timing is not fixed, so allow for it when planning around your deadline.

Once approved, the system generates a Notice of Acting / Representation and the case appears in your dashboard. Only then can you file documents on it.

Plan for this delay. If you're on day 26 of your 28-day deadline and haven't linked to the case yet, you may not get access in time to file online. In that scenario, use a paper Form 51 at a designated Magistrates Court registry; physical registry filing remains available.

Complete the Form 51S

With the case linked, open it and select the option to lodge a defence. The Form 51S smart form walks you through:

• Your details — confirm your name, address, and contact information.
• Response to each allegation — the form mirrors the numbered paragraphs in the claimant's Statement of Claim. For each paragraph, you admit, deny, or say you don't know. If you deny, you need to state your version briefly.
• Any affirmative defences — additional facts that defeat the claim even if the claimant's allegations are true (such as the claim being outside the limitation period, or the debt already being paid).

The system wraps your answers into a sealed Form 51 shell document. You don't need to format this yourself.

Upload Supporting Documents

CourtSA accepts PDF files only. Before uploading:

• Convert any Word documents, photos, or scans to PDF
• Make sure the files aren't password-protected or encrypted
• Check the file size against the portal's limit (stated on the upload page)

If you're filing an affidavit (Form 12) electronically, you must keep the original hard copy with the wet-ink signature. The court can request the physical original at any time under Rule 31.10 of the Uniform Civil Rules 2020.

Lodgement vs Filing

When you hit submit, the document is lodged, not filed. The registry reviews it and either:

• Accepts it — the document is formally filed, you get a confirmation, and a sealed copy appears in the case.
• Rejects it — you get a rejection notice explaining the problem (wrong form, missing information, formatting error).

A rejection wipes the lodgement date. Your original submission date is not preserved, so if you're close to the deadline, a rejection means scrambling to fix and re-lodge — or printing the form and filing at the registry before 5 PM.

If the Portal Goes Down

CourtSA has occasional outages, and they don't always coincide with convenient timing. If the portal is down on your deadline day:

1. Take a date-stamped screenshot showing the outage.
2. Email the complete filing package to the court registry before 5 PM.
3. Follow up by phone at (08) 8204 2444 to confirm they received it.

This creates a record that you attempted to file on time despite a system failure.

Common Mistakes on CourtSA

• Waiting too long to request case access — the approval delay can eat into your deadline.
• Uploading encrypted PDFs — the system rejects them silently.
• Treating lodgement as filing — check for the confirmation that the registry accepted the document.
• Not serving the claimant — CourtSA files the defence with the court, but you still need to serve a copy on the other party yourself.

Our step-by-step response guide for South Australia includes a CourtSA walkthrough alongside a deadline calculator and defence preparation worksheet, so you can work through the portal process with everything in one place.

See more South Australia guides →