The images of a scared Australian Prime Minister could have a lasting impact on Julia Gillard's reputation.

The Prime Minister was snapped with a look of terror on her face as she was scurried away by security after an angry mob of protestors gathered outside an event in Canberra yesterday.

She stumbled and lost a shoe in the ordeal.

Australia Correspondent Steve Price says Australians will wake up to images today of a frightened leader.

"They're going to think 'well, we've got a Prime Minister there who's frightened, and that's not really what we normally see here in Australia'," he told Newstalk ZB's Susan Wood.

Meanwhile the protestors who kept Gillard's shoe hope to return it to her today.

The Prime Minister says she's made of tough stuff and is over yesterday's incident.

Local media say Gillard was visibly shaken, and stumbled during the encounter, but she says she's over it now.

"Oh I'm fine, I'm fine. The only thing that sort of angers me about it is that it disrupted such a wonderful event," she says.

The protestors apparently were angry about a suggestion by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott that it may be time to reconsider the Aboriginal tent embassy's relevance.