Fuss was born as Amelia Florence Hicks in Bald Hills (near Moonta), South Australia, Australia, on 5 January 1889. She was the ninth of ten children born to George Hicks (1828–1892) and Susannah Hunt (1854–1908), both English immigrants. Her father was a miner and a farmer, while her mother was a housewife.

In 1911, Fuss married her husband, Leslie. The couple worked on a farm until her husband’s pneumonia forced them to move to Adelaide. They had five children, four daughters and a son.

Fuss’ husband died in 1964; she later moved in with her daughter Yvonne. On her 100th birthday, her daughters requested her birth certificate so she could receive a letter from Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her becoming a centenarian. However, they found out that she was three days younger – her birth was registered as occurring on 5 January instead of 2 January like they believed.

Fuss moved into a nursing home in Kingswood in 1997.

Fuss died in the suburb of Kingswood in Adelaide, South Australia, on 7 April 1999. She was survived by her four daughters, as well as 11 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and 10 great-great-grandchildren. Her daughter Marjorie Buttery lived to be a centenarian, dying in 2017 aged 101.