St Gabriel Activities has transitioned to a new booking and payment system.

This is a fully digital platform. All payments and refunds are now processed through the eCommerce system.

What this means for you as a Booking Coordinator:

• You can no longer make bookings on behalf of participants.

• You will continue to manage participant requests, including:

  • Single or shared rooms

  • Accessible rooms

  • Infant facilities

  • Dietary requirements

• NEW: You will coordinate:

  • Substitute participants (when an attendee can no longer attend and nominates a replacement)

  • Hardship fund requests

Refund & Cancellation Policy | VIEW
Substitution Process | VIEW
Hardship Fund | VIEW
Hardship Request Form | VIEW

When a cancellation occurs:

1. Click on Wait List and Select the activity.
2. Go to the list of people on the waiting list
   For the person/people you wish to notify:
• Click GRID Edit
• Change their status from Expression of Interest to Informed
3. An automatic email will be sent informing them that a place is available.

⚠️ Important:

• Places are first come, first served.
• A place is not held for anyone.
• If someone else books before they proceed, they miss the opportunity.

A) What Happens Automatically

• When a student submits a substitute request:
  • An automatic email is sent to:
    • The original student
    • The nominated substitute
  • The Booking Coordinator is copied on both emails.

Timeframe

• The nominated substitute must reply:
  • Within 24 hours, or
  • Before the activity starts if it is imminent.

B) Booking the Substitute (BC Action)
You need to do 2 things:

a) Book the Substitute
b) Cancel the original Booking

a) Book the Substitute 

1. Go to MANAGE BOOKINGS and click Substitute → View.
2. Search for the original person:
• Enter First Name and Last Name
• Click Search
3. You will see:
• The original booking
• The substitute who has accepted
4. Click Book (Please see important note below):
• This opens a non-payment booking form
5. Complete the form and Submit.

⚠️ Important Notes:

• The nominated substitute must be a registered user.
• If not registered, they must do so as soon as possible and inform the BC.
  If they are a registered user, they need to use the email account connect to their account in Women’s Activities or it will not work. If the email is incorrect i.e.: typo it will not work. The BC can edit the incorrect email on behalf of the person.

Once submitted, the substitute booking is complete.

b) Cancel the Original Booking

1. Go to Manage Bookings.
2. Search for the original person’s booking.
3. Change booking status:
• From Payment Successful
• To Cancel

1. Room Charts (All St Gabriel Activities)

Booking Coordinators are responsible for maintaining the Room Charts for all St Gabriel activities.

• ⚠️IMPORTANT: DO NOT DUPLICATE ANY ROOM CHART. There are many teams of people who have access to these documents. Duplicating causes confusion. These documents remain the only official room charts that Women's Activities uses and disseminates.

•  Room Charts are stored in a shared folder in drive in content.wa@aepl.org.au and you will be given editing access to these documents.
• In the first tab, ROOM PLAN LIST, please update all participants in the column titled "Person". This list is linked to the FLOOR PLAN in the next tab i.e.: participants will automatically be populated to the FLOOR PLAN.
• Please note that this document is used by  several teams of people and are sent to participants in the welcome email one week before the activity begins. It is essential that all Room Charts are accurate and fully updated by this time.
• Booking Coordinators are responsible to send out the Welcome email for all St Gabriel Retreat participants. The Advisory sends out the Welcome email for all St Gabriel Course participants.

2. Room Allocation & Payments 

With the online payment system, room selection now involves payments and must follow a first-in, first-served process.

•  Participants pay for single, shared, cottage or live out places, (depending on the venue) and allocations must reflect exactly what has been purchased.
• Refunds are not available at this time, so accuracy is critical.

At the same time, room allocation should be handled compassionately, taking into account:

• Elderly or unwell participants
• Mothers with babies

The booking form now asks participants to indicate whether they require:

• Infant facilities
• Accessible rooms

Your responsibility:

• Review these requests carefully.
• Where possible, confirm availability directly with the participant before the activity so expectations are clear.

3. Kenthurst Room Policy

We have decided to:

• Release: 
• Retreats: 23 single rooms and 4 cottage rooms and 5 live out places for booking immediately. NB: 2 rooms are reserved for staff giving a total of 34 places.
• Courses: 22 single rooms and 4 cottage rooms and 5 live out places for booking immediately. NB: 3 rooms are reserved for staff giving a total of 34 places.
• The Supernumeraries Only Retreat and the GRFI Retreat will be residential only, with no live-out option, so that these retreats can remain recollected and focused.
• If there is high demand for an activity and the ones in charge are from Kenthurst you can ask them if they would mind staying in the room in the administration. If they agree, please let Suzanne know and she will increase the capacity and you can offer a room to one person on the waiting list.

   

  NB: Under this system:
  If someone books a room in the cottage at a lower price and a room becomes available in the main house, they can be offered a room in the main house at no extra cost. This is considered a bonus for the participant. 
  If someone has paid for LIVE OUT and due to room availability decides to LIVE IN, they will need to pay the difference.
  
  We prefer this outcome and accept a small financial loss rather than limiting participant numbers.

  This policy will be reviewed at the end of the year.

4. Kenthurst – Break-Even Point

• The break-even point is 21 participants.

5. Infant Facilities & Accessible rooms:

Please refer to the instructions in your Drive folder for more specific information on your venues.