You can take a lot more onto the plane if purchased after the security check in most countries, and so long as it looks like a duty free shop purchase. Only this month i went through about eight bloody airports in three countries (in Asia) so these are recent observations. If you try and take beer in your hand luggage, you will probably get done with the hi tech xray thingy. But drug-muling some beers through the security entry in the departure country would be easy. Strap a bunch of stubbies to your body, wear baggy clothes. Once you make it through, buy some small **** from the duty-free, ask for a big bag, and then untape your booty and place in the carrier, and seal the bag with some durable clear tape. For the rest of your leg, no matter what country you visit, you will not be questioned on the bag of beers that you are openly carrying.
Note that Australian tax laws will catch you on anything over a certain amount with alcohol, and its by volume not alc % AFAIK , so when you get to your home airport, federal restrictions will still apply.
My suggestion ? Pack your beer safely in your cargo suitcase. You can probably stand a chance at getting more beer into Australia, just don't declare it and load some dummy declarations and a stupid tourist persona into your psychological arsenal, and quarantine will rarely dig deeper into your sack. I brought back a bunch of stuff that might have been questioned, and potentially confiscated, but openly threw out a few bags of tea, super-safe wooden carvings, some dirty thongs etc and the guy didnt even think about looking at the stuff I DIDN'T show him. It does take some Jedi mind-tricks too.