Margaret Ada Sutherland AO OBE (20 November 1897 – 12 August 1984) was an Australian composer, among the best-known female musicians her country has produced.

[1] A student of Edward Goll in Australia and of Sir Arnold Bax in London during the 1920s, Sutherland wrote pieces in almost all forms, but particularly concentrated on the genre of chamber music.

Despite the emphasis on non-vocal works in her total output, one of Sutherland's most recognised pieces is "In the Dim Counties" (1936) for voice and piano accompaniment from Five Songs.

Sutherland sets her music to the poetry of Shaw Neilson, considered a "pastoral lyric poet" from Australia whose verse has "simplicity of form and restraint of utterance".

[This quote needs a citation] Five Songs has been recorded by numerous Australian female artists such as Helen Noonan.