Telusa started her PhD candidacy with the Crawford School of Public Policy in March 2019 but later transferred to DPA in March 2020. She graduated from the University of the South Pacific in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Accounting and Management. She also completed a Masters of Public Policy (Development Administration) at ANU in 2006. Telusa has been working for the Australian aid program in Tonga for a total of 16 years in a range of developing programs including education, health, governance, disaster management, gender and disability programs. She also had the opportunity to work for the UN office in Tonga as the response coordinator in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Gita in 2018.