Becoming a parliamentarian is a daunting thing. Apart from all the work and pressure to perform in public, new MPs have to get their heads across the myriad of rules governing life at Parliament House.
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Freshly elected independent MP Cathy McGowan found this out first hand, when she arrived at Parliament on Tuesday for the start of a two-day induction into parliamentary life.
Keen to mark the moment when she first made it into the House of Representatives as an MP, Ms McGowan tweeted a seemingly harmless picture - of herself sitting on a bench in the chamber, "listening to an address from the Speaker, Anna Burke".
What the member for Indi did not realise was that taking pictures in the House of Representatives is a tightly restricted activity - only accredited press gallery photographers can take still images of parliamentary proceedings.
While Parliament was not officially in session, Ms McGowan's twit pic was still a no no, due to the high degree of sensitivity about images taken in the chamber.
"Media activity" is prohibited in private areas of Parliament, including on the House of Representatives and Senate chamber floors.
In part, this is to ensure "respect for the privacy" of MPs and "non-interference" with the ability of parliamentarians to carry out their duties.
Fairfax Media understands that Ms McGowan will not be reprimanded for the breach, given she has only just begun her parliamentary training and did not know about the restriction.
Helpfully, Ms McGowan and her new colleagues were given a "showbag" at the induction, which among other things, contained the parliamentary rules.
