Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)

Processing CSEF applications

School administrators can process applications, and find further information, on the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) system (staff login required).

School administrators must make sure the CASES21 end of year processing has been completed and the school's student enrolment system is up-to-date with the latest enrolments for 2024 before CSEF applications can be processed. This will minimise the risk of incorrect CSEF information being copied across from 2023 to 2024 and reduce the chance of overpayments or underpayments.

Step 1 – CASES21 data task

Government schools must ensure that CASES21 (admin) accurately reflects current student enrolment details. This means that all students currently enrolled at your school are shown as active on CASES21.

The CSEF system will automatically schedule a download of the student data across to the CSEF system overnight.

Government schools can schedule a download of the student data by selecting:

1. ‘Applications’
2. ‘Download CASES21 students’

This will update the CSEF system overnight with the current student enrolment details.

Step 2 – Copying applications

A short method for processing applications is to rollover/copy the applications from the previous year (for parents/carers who received CSEF at the same school in 2023).

To do this:

1. Log into the CSEF system (login required).
2. Select ‘Applications’ from the menu bar.
3. Select ‘Search by applicant’.
4. Select the year 2023.
5. Click ‘Search’.
6. Optionally enter the first letter of the parent/carer’s surname to refine the search if there are numerous applications.
7. Locate the application which to be copied and click on the 'Copy' link next to the parent/carer's name. This takes schools to the ‘Add Application’ page where the copied parent/carer and student information from the year before is displayed.
8. Check the parent/carer’s application form against the system to ensure that all details are correct for the current year. Schools can add or delete students from the application.
9. Non-government schools only will need to add the year level of the student.
10. Click the ‘Save application’ button. Upon clicking the save button, the CSEF system will check that all mandatory fields have been completed and the application will then be created in the current year. The application will also be automatically validated against Centrelink’s database. CRN validation typically occurs every half an hour or overnight. Once successfully saved, the application will be displayed in View mode. Typically at this point the application has been successfully copied.
11. Click the ‘Back to search’ button to return to the search page to continue with copying other applications.
    Note: applications entered before the first eligibility date will not be validated with Centrelink until this date has been reached. Applications entered in Term 2 will be validated against the first eligibility date. If the Centrelink validation fails, the CSEF system will attempt another validation against the second eligibility date in an automatic overnight process.
12. Once a school has completed entering their applications, the school will need to endorse the applications before payments can be made. CSEF administrators with 'school approver' access can endorse applications by clicking on the ‘Endorse’ option in the menu bar and following the steps displayed (see Step 4).

Step 3 – Add a new application

1. Select ‘Applications’ then ‘Add application’ from the main menu.
2. Select the ‘Application type’. By default, the value is set to ‘Parent has CRN’ as this is the most common application type.
3. Enter the parent/carer surname and first name. This is not case sensitive, but the spelling must be identical to the spelling on the parent’s/carer's Centrelink concession card. Then (optionally) enter a school reference number.
4. Enter the Centrelink Reference Number (or CRN) of the parent/carer as per the application form or concession card. The CRN is mandatory for this application type.
5. Government schools – add the student to the application by entering the student’s surname in the ‘CASES21 student selection' search box, clicking the ‘search’ button then ticking the box next to the student’s name and clicking ‘select’. Schools may add multiple students to the application by ticking each student’s name.
6. Non-government schools – manually enter each child’s details into the student details section.
7. Click the ‘Save application’ button. Upon clicking the save button, the application will be created and automatically validated against Centrelink’s database. Once saved, the application will be displayed in View mode.
   Note: applications entered before the first eligibility date will not be validated with Centrelink until this date has been reached. Applications entered in Term 2 will be validated against the first eligibility date. If the Centrelink validation fails, the CSEF system will attempt another validation against the second eligibility date in an automatic overnight process.
8. Once schools have completed entering their applications, and once applications have been validated with Centrelink, schools will need to endorse the applications before payments can be made (see Step 4). CSEF administrators with 'school approver' access can endorse applications by clicking on the ‘Endorse’ option in the menu bar and following the steps displayed.

Step 4 – Endorse CSEF applications

By endorsing the applications, schools are indicating that their student enrolments in the CSEF System are up to date and the student was enrolled and attending the school on 29 February 2024.

Only users with ‘school approver’ access are able to endorse applications.

To endorse applications for processing:

1. Select ‘Endorse’ from the main menu.
2. To endorse all applications, click on the ‘Endorse all’ button — or, to view these applications first, click on the ‘List applications’ button. Applications that are endorsed will be paid in the next scheduled CSEF payment run (the next payment run date is displayed on the CSEF system homepage).

Note: Applications which fail the Centrelink validation will not be available for endorsing. See Issue 1 in Application processing problems.