Mara graduated from New Zealand's University of Otago with an LLB (Law) degree in 1983. This was followed by an LLM (Master's degree in Law) from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom in 1986. Meanwhile, he had served as a Legal Officer in the Attorney General's Chamber from 1984, rising to Principal Legal Officer in 1986. In 1987, he was appointed Fiji's Chief Administrative Officer for Foreign Affairs, and in 1991 he became Chargé d'affaires at the Fijian Embassy in Washington, D.C..