Woolworths is trying a new scheme to move the homeless on by playing loud classical music where they congregate.
The scheme is being tried outside one of the company's stores in Canberra.
"We've been trialing a new initiative involving classical music at our Dickson store for the last two months," the company said.
"We've received both positive and constructive feedback from customers and we'll continue to monitor it over the coming months."
The store fronts onto a narrow alley. Part of the passage is covered by an awning extending out from Woolworths. Speakers in the awning put out a constant stream of "easy listening" classics, with Vivaldi prominent.
Neighbouring store-keepers said the music had pushed some homeless people away - but only from the immediate vicinity to around the corner.
The one beggar who remained - Scott - said he liked the music.
"It's soothing," he said as he crouched, shivering and seeking small change from passers-by as they emerged from the store.
Many shoppers did the kind thing and dropped a small amount of money on to the sheet of newspaper he had spread on the cold ground.
But he was alone there. Others had left. The easy listening was a hard noise to some of the homeless people. One had pitched his tent around the corner in the shopping centre, out of ear-shot.
Local shopkeepers were divided on the initiative.
It's kind of cynical. They aren't hurting anyone. Let them sleep there.
Jennifer Baird
"It's not appealing to the centre to have people begging all the time. Some are dirty, and now with Covid, people stay away. The elderly always complain," Jill Farrah, behind the counter at the news agency opposite Woolworths, said.
But she said the down-and-out people had been moved to elsewhere within the shopping centre. "They've just moved around the corner."
But other neighbouring shop-holders did not approve of the change.
"I noticed that there were no homeless people around Woolworths," Jennifer Baird of the Trove shop said.
"It's kind of cynical. They aren't hurting anyone. Let them sleep there," she said.
Some of the homeless people have mental difficulties. "There's a homeless man. He's completely derelict - destitute.
"He just wanders around in circles," Ms Baird said.
McDonalds in Civic is also playing loud classical music outside its restaurant in Civic. The company didn't respond to a request for information. The musical taste of its chooser of music differs from that of Woolworths. The fast-food chain chooses opera, often Verdi, while the store chain prefers instrumental music.
The technique has been used in many places outside Australia.
Music was introduced at tube stations in London and reports said that crime dropped (though whether it was simply moved down the road is not clear).
It was then imported to the United States. According to The Los Angeles Times, 7-Eleven stores in the city used it: The owners of multiple franchises of the convenience store have started installing speakers to play the same playlist to drive away loiterers and panhandlers, many of whom owners and managers say are homeless."
According to The Washington Post, "In 2001, police in West Palm Beach, Florida blasted Mozart and Beethoven on a crime-ridden street corner and saw incidents dwindle dramatically.
"In 2010, the transit authority in Portland, Oregon began playing classical music at light-rail stops, and calls to police dropped.
"When the London Underground started piping classical music into its stations in 2005, physical and verbal abuse by young people declined by 33 per cent."
In Sacramento, a McDonald's resorted to bagpipes but that was too much not only for the homeless but also for residents with homes.
The local paper reported: "Arnold Phillips, who lives across the street from the McDonald's, told CBS13 the never-ending bagpipes were making him crazy.
"It actually penetrates through the walls," he told the paper.
