There is trespass law but it depends on where does the home owner hit the thief.
There was a case in Sydney which the owner was charge with assulting becoz he stabbed the thief. But he only got charge for the last stab (he stabbed the thief 3 times) becoz the first 2 stab was inside the house, so he was self defending and the last one is outside the house which is assulting.
So dont overgeneralise! You can hit the thief for self defending purposes, but it really depends on where you are...