An eight-year-old girl has been fatally shot in an indigenous community in far north Queensland.

Police say she was shot at a house in Aurukun, just south of Weipa on Cape York, about 7am on Tuesday.

Weipa Police Inspector Paul James said the girl might have been shot accidentally but investigations were ongoing.

"We can't really say [whether or not it was an accident]. Obviously we've got to treat it as if it wasn't but I think that will be the outcome," he said.

Inspector James says there were a number of family members at the house when the girl was shot, including other children.