A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the deaths of eight children in an Australian home.

Queensland Police Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said that the 37-year-old woman was currently under guard at a hospital in the northern city of Cairns.

She is the mother of seven of the children found dead in the house. The eighth child was her niece.

Police have not said how the children died. But Mr Asnicar said they are examining several knives in the home that may have been the weapon used to kill the children.

The woman was also found in the home with the children, suffering from stab wounds to the chest. Mr Asnicar said she is lucid and talking to police.

Mr Asnicar said the children ranged in age from 18 months to 14 years.