In Reply to: Tricky question re Duty Free posted by bunbury gal on Wednesday, 25. March 2009 at 22:25 Bali Time:
Whether you can bring alcohol in or not is nothing to do with the legal drinking age.
Legally, adults over the age of 18 can bring in 1 litre of alcohol each.
However, I really doubt that customs will ask to see the passports of the 17 year olds - you will have to buy it here, and I don't know if there are restrictions on how much you can buy. Then once through customs on the Australian side, hand over to them.
If they get checked, well it was worth a try...