QF163 on Monday was completely full, I was on it, something about NZers flying back from watching a team get whalloped in a game of cricket in MEL. The flight was delayed by about 30 minutes, along with many Trans-Tasmans NZ, QF, JQ and VA I noticed that night from announcements in the terminal due to earlier storm delays.
In Australia and New Zealand they always announce that you must pick your bags up and go through Customs and biosecurity before rechecking them in for your respective domestic flight, even if they are through checked. That is something different to what I have experienced in some countries but it is your responsiblity to pick up the baggage.
Regarding hotels, I have never experienced an airline making the hotel bookings under the pasengers name, they tend to book the required number of rooms and you get checked in at the hotel under your own name. This can cause some problems if you are travelling with someone eg. work colleague travelling under same booking, and they try to put you in the same room as them.
Others have stated what compensation you can expect to receive but regarding how QF routed you to get to WLG, that could have been the only option open to them due to the returning NZers.