AustLit

'In 2006, a shopping centre in Queensland’s Hervey Bay agreed to de-install a controversial anti-loitering device on the basis of unlawful discrimination and direct physical harm. Installed in 1996 at the recommendation of local police, the ‘Mosquito’ emits a continuous tone at a frequency of 17.4 kHz in order to deter antisocial youth. &e device’s efficacy depended on the fact that our ability to hear high frequencies rapidly deteriorates with age. Arguments both for and against this device pivot on the way it deliberately manipulates auditory perception to target a specific, presumably undesirable, demographic. What we heard as teenagers—what we were capable of hearing—is very different to what we’re hearing now.' (Editorial introduction)