The Company and Consolidated Entity determine the dates  of obtaining control (i.e. acquisition date) and losing control  (i.e. disposal date) of another entity based on an assessment  of all pertinent facts and circumstances that affect the ability to  direct the relevant activities of that entity. Facts and  circumstances that have the most impact include the  contractual arrangements agreed with the counterparty, the  manner in which those arrangements are expected to operate  in practice and whether regulatory approval is required to  complete. The acquisition or disposal date does not necessarily  occur when the transaction is closed or finalised under law. Subsidiaries held by the Company are carried in its financial  statements at cost less impairment in accordance with AASB  127  Separate Financial Statements.  Associates and joint ventures are entities over which the  Consolidated Entity has significant influence or joint control,  but not control, and are accounted for under the equity method  except those which are classified as held for sale. The equity  method of accounting is applied in the consolidated financial  report and involves the recognition of the Consolidated Entity’s  share of its associates’ and joint ventures’ post-acquisition  profits or losses in the consolidated income statement, and the  share of its post-acquisition movements in reserves. The Consolidated Entity determines the dates of obtaining or  losing significant influence or joint control of another entity  based on an assessment of all pertinent facts  and circumstances that affect the ability to significantly influence  or jointly control the financial and operating policies of that  entity. Facts and circumstances that have the most impact  include the contractual arrangements agreed with the  counterparty, the manner in which those arrangements are  expected to operate in practice, and whether regulatory  approval is required to complete. The acquisition or disposal  date does not necessarily occur when the transaction is closed  or finalised under law.  The purchase method of accounting is used to account for  all business combinations (excepting business combinations  involving entities or businesses under common control) which  occurred before 1 April 2010. From 1 April 2010, business  combinations are accounted for using the acquisition method.  Cost is measured as the aggregate of the fair values (at the date  of exchange) of assets acquired, equity instruments issued or  liabilities incurred or assumed at the date of exchange plus, for  business combinations occurring before 1 April 2010, any costs  directly attributable to the acquisition. Transaction costs arising  on the issue of equity instruments are recognised directly in  equity, and those arising on borrowings are capitalised and  included in interest expense using the effective interest method.  Operating segments are identified on the basis of internal  reports to senior management about components of the  Consolidated Entity that are regularly reviewed by senior  management who have been identified as the chief operating  decision makers, in order to allocate resources to the segment  and to assess its performance. Information reported to senior  management for the purposes of resource allocation and  assessment of performance is specifically focused on core  products and services offered, comprising seven reportable  segments as disclosed in note 3. Information about products  and services and geographical segments is based on the  financial information used to produce the Consolidated Entity’s  financial statements.  Distinguishing between whether assets or a business is  acquired involves judgement. Some of the factors that the  Consolidated Entity uses in identifying a business combination  are:  Where settlement of any part of cash consideration is deferred,  the amounts payable in the future are discounted to their  present values as at the date of exchange. The discount rate  used is the entity’s incremental borrowing rate, being the  rate at which a similar borrowing could be obtained from an  independent financier under comparable terms and conditions.  Identifiable assets acquired and liabilities and contingent  liabilities assumed in a business combination are measured at  their fair values on the acquisition date. The Consolidated Entity  can elect, on a transaction-by-transaction basis, to measure  NCI relating to ordinary shares either at fair value or at the NCI’s  proportionate share of the fair values of the identifiable assets  and liabilities. The excess of the consideration over the  Consolidated Entity’s share of the fair value of the identifiable  net assets acquired is recorded as goodwill. If the consideration  is less than the Consolidated Entity’s share of the fair value of  the identifiable net assets of the business acquired, the  difference is recognised directly in the consolidated income  statement, but only after a reassessment of the identification  and measurement of the net assets acquired. For contingent  consideration given in business combinations occurring from 1  April 2010, the amount is subsequently remeasured to its fair  value with changes recognised in the consolidated income  statement. Interests in associates and joint ventures accounted for using  the equity method   (iii) Business combinations  (iv) Segment reporting – the nature of the Consolidated Entity’s industry and  business model, which affects the nature of an input,  process or output;  – whether the acquisition included at least a majority of  the critical inputs (e.g. tangible or intangible assets, and  intellectual property) and a majority of the critical processes  (e.g. strategic processes, skilled and experienced  workforce);  – the relative ease of replacing the critical processes not  acquired by either integrating within the Consolidated  Entity’s existing processes or sub-contracting them to  third parties; and  – the presence of goodwill.  105 