The 27-year-old woman was found unresponsive in a bedroom after a late-night phone call reporting the assault, police say.
Emergency services were called to the home at Slacks Creek, south of Brisbane, about 12.30am on Wednesday.
Police and paramedics tried to save the woman but she could not be revived and died at the scene.
The woman is believed to have been choked to death, but a post-mortem examination will determine the exact cause of death, police said.
A 37-year-old Slacks Creek man, described by police as the woman's former partner, has been arrested and charged with murder.
The man and woman had previously been in a relationship which had since ended, Detective Inspector Ian Galpin told reporters on Wednesday.
"I can tell you that the man and woman were the only persons present at the house at the time of the incident," he said.
Police have declared a crime scene and specialist officers will carry out a full forensic examination as detectives door knock surrounding streets.
The woman had recently sought help from police about domestic and family violence incidents, police said.
A temporary protection order was issued at the Beenleigh Magistrates Court, Det Galpin said.
"Police had taken the appropriate actions and that support had been offered to this woman as well, and that other support services had been engaged," he said.
Investigators are trying to work out why the woman was at her ex-partner's home on the night she died, he said.
Officers would not say whether the man was previously known to police or whether coercive control or physical violence had been alleged in the earlier domestic-violence matter, citing the case being before the courts.
"Any life that is lost because of domestic and family violence has an obvious and devastating impact on family and friends, but also on the wider community," he said.
He described the woman's death as an "absolutely tragic event".
"We come to work every day to try and prevent this exact thing," he said.
"So when something like this does happen, we all feel it, as I'm sure the wider community does as well.
"Anyone engaging in violent activity in the community can expect the full force of our resources as a response."
The man has been formally charged with one count of murder, which police say will be recorded as a domestic-violence offence.
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