Teen charged with murder over alleged stabbing of 10-year-old at Boolaroo

Police and paramedics were called to Boolaroo at about 3.45pm on Monday after reports of an incident at a home about 20 kilometres west of Newcastle.

Several residents of the estate said they didn't hear anything out of the ordinary until multiple sirens came tearing up the otherwise quiet street, including ambulances and police cars.

"NSW Ambulance paramedics treated a 10-year-old girl at the scene for multiple stab wounds; however she died at the scene," police said in a statement.

Officers from Lake Macquarie Police District arrested a 17-year-old girl at the scene.

The teenager was taken to Belmont police station where she was charged with murder (domestic violence-related) overnight.

She was refused bail and will face a children's court today.

The girls were believed to be known to one another, police said in a statement.

A crime scene was established and detectives and uniformed police swarmed the residential street.

Forensic officers clad in white jumpsuits arrived at the home on Monday evening, and the street was expected to remain cordoned off with police tape well into the night.

The stabbing has shocked the local community, with one resident telling the Newcastle Herald no one would expect something so horrific to happen in their neighbourhood.

Several concerned locals gathered outside the crime scene as police officers were seen coming and going from the home.

Lake Macquarie police are being assisted by the State Crime Command's Homicide Squad under Strike Force Upstream.

Investigations are continuing and anyone with information has been urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Information is treated in strict confidence, police said.